Earth Sonata
by Pluviam
Summary: Life has ups and downs, just like a sonata. Young violin prodigy Fiore Veracini was called a fool for her ability to see demons. Upon joining True-Cross Academy, she ventures every night into a nearby forest to find refuge in what she likes the most: music and nature. However, she couldn't predict that a certain demon would become the silent spectator of her nightly recitals.
1. Prelude

**Before you begin reading** :

The fanfiction you are about to read has been entirely written by non-native English speaker! Keep in mind that I've been studying English for only 3 years and that there will be mistakes. Instead of bashing my work I would truly appreciate if you guys could gently correct me to make my improve. :)

* * *

 **Chapter I: Prelude**

.

Take a foreign girl who can't speak a single word of Japanese, drop her in the middle of True-Cross City and enjoy the result.

She was lost. Hardly had she exited the train than she was already lost. All the streets looked the same, crowded places filled with people, colored ads and luminous panels that would make her dizzy just by looking at it for too long.

 _What a peculiar view..._

The auburn haired girl had never been to Japan before and eventhough she used to travel a lot for her recitals, that was the first time she was left on her own. She found nothing special about Japan, or should we say; she didn't know much about the country. For as long as she could remember, her life could be summed up by only one thing: music. She, the international violin prodigy was now alone at the opposite side of the world only to return on school seats. She let out a deep sigh and looked around her, hoping to land her forest-green eyes on something she could read.

Nothing. How can the train station of such a renowed international school not have any English indications?

 _Pitiful._

 _ **She** looked pitiful._

What brought her here? That's simple: demons.

Her only escape to all the pressure her reputation came with was nature. Often tired to play for people, she used to wander alone in the forest to play her instrument for herself. What a relief this was to her... Being free to play whatever she wanted, free to miss a note or even improvise her own melodies without having multiple pair of eyes staring at her, all alone with the only sounds of the forest to accompany her art... Well, that was what she thought.

In fact, she has never been alone.

A few years ago after a particularly stressful day, she found herself in the forest discharging her rage through her violin and got bitten by a very strange creature. A **monster,** did she later tell her family. Of course, nobody believed her. They even thought she made up the entire story to draw attention on her.

The said monster was a demon and that day, the girl accidentaly received her Temptain. Since then, she was able to see a lot of weird creatures which nobody else seemed to notice. That's how _everything_ changed.

Demons came in all shapes, colors and sizes. They were wherever she went: her home, the forest but most of all: demons aflued in music rooms. They loved music just as much as she did. She had noticed that the sound of instruments attracted them and althought she was scared at first, she quickly got used to their presence and learnt all their behaviors and reactions: while a fast tempo had this amusing tedency to excite them, a slow one would, at the contrary, appease their souls. How funny was it to observe these strange creatures react to her playing and how wonderful was it to interact with them by only using music. This is how the girl learnt how to speak with demons.

She loved what these creatures taught her and would have spent her whole life this way: playing for humans during the day and for demons during the night. However, just like a sonata, life has ups and downs.

* * *

\- "Excuse-me, miss?"

A voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She jumped in the air as she noticed the man in front of her, causing her luggages to fall on the ground. Confused at first, the man then crouched to take them up. He slightly smiled when he hold her the black violin case to her.

\- "A musician, aren't you? You must be miss Veracini if I'm not mistaken?"

He spoke to her in English with a barely noticeable accent. She took a better look at the stranger: althought he seemed very mature, she could tell that he was about her age, maybe a little younger. Quite tall with brown hair and blue eyes, black glasses and coat which she recognized as the common Exorcist uniform. Finally, she wasn't alone anymore. The only presence of this man let her feel better already. She gratefully took the case out of his hands as a warm smile appeared on her lips.

\- "In person! Fiore Veracini." She added. "Thank you for the luggages, that was a bit clumsy of me I must admit. And you are?"

\- "I'm sorry if I scared you, I didn't mean it." He said, bowing his head respectuously. "I am Mr. Yukio Okumura, Exorcist of the Japanese branch. Sir Pheles send me to look for you."

Mephisto Pheles, also known as Johann Faust in public, was the headmaster of this renowed institution as well as the man she was supposed to meet upon her arrival. She was kind of relieved to hear that the man had sent someone to help her out of here.

\- "Nice to meet you Mr. Okumura. That's very kind of Sir Pheles to send you here. To be honest I was totally lost."

He couldn't retain a smile. This city was a true maze for foreigners.

\- "I guess it must be difficult if you don't speak the language. This is your first time in Japan, right? Are you enjoying so far?"

\- "Well, if getting lost in the middle of an unknown place and being called 'European shrimp' twice counts as it, then I can say I'm enjoying a lot!" She joked.

\- "Oh is that so?" He chuckled. "I'm sure you will learn to love this place, miss. It has everything an exorcist in training can dream about. We also have many music facilities that would love to receive a talented musician such as you."

That last phrase made her blush. Obviously that young man was well informed.

\- "Thank you Mr. Okumura."

\- "You're welcome miss. Well, let me show you the way to the academy, I wouldn't want to make Sir Pheles wait."

* * *

The two of them headed toward the Academy, having a pleasant talk about their culture difference and their activities. The young man was kind enough to point out some interesting places and stores as they passed by. Very soon, they could see the astonishing huge gates of True-Cross Academy standing in front of them.

 _Rich kid school._

Luxury and sumptuosity wasn't new to Fiore. That was a standard working environment for musicians which she had known for many years. However the haughty behavior which the place extolled had always displeased the girl who would by far prefer the serenity and beauty that she could only find in nature.

Instead of entering by the main gate, Yukio asked her to follow him a little further to a small barely noticiable entrance. He took a weird-looking set of keys from his pocket and inserted one in the rusty lock. A glaucous sound broke out of the door as he opened it. She followed him without any question as they walked in what looked like a large and luminous hallway. Curious, Fiore took a quick look at the window and gasped:

\- "Oh!"

They weren't on the ground-floor anymore. In front of her was displayed a breathtaking view: the immense courtyard of the academy, boarded by gardens and European-styled buildings all around. In the distance she could even see the huge gates in front of which they walked a few seconds ago. For a short moment she forgot she was in Japan.

\- "Is this some kind of exorcist magic?" She asked, her gaze still lost in the beautiful landscape.

The boy let out an amused laugh.

\- "This truly is some kind of magic indeed."

* * *

In less time than it takes to say it, they arrived in front of an elegant door on which they could read "Johan Faust". Yukio looked at her, surely asking for permission to knock the door. She nodded. But before his hand could reach the wooden door, a voice came out of the office:

\- " _Entrate ragazzi!_ " (Come in, guys!)

That man spoke with a perfect Italian accent which made Fiore freeze for a second. She didn't dare asking for an explanation and stared blankly at Yukio who was now opening the door.

\- "Good afternoon, Sir Pheles. I went to pick our new transfer student as you asked me."

\- "I know, I know! I've been thinking about you the all day long, young miss! It's been a very long time since we last welcomed an Italian student in our academy~" Said the man, bowing in front of her.

Man or... clown? Fiore was lost in contemplation: so _he_ was the famous Mephisto Pheles? The weird man had purple hair, deep green tired eyes and was wearing a kind of white suit dotted with a multitude of pink ornaments. Not to mention the white hat. The image of Harlequin from _La Divina Commedia_ suddenly popped in Fiore's mind. Eccentric was the word.

\- "Should I repeat in sign language, maybe? I heard Italians are very fond of it~"

His voice pulled her out of her thoughts. He was standing in front of her, holding out his hand with a grin on his face, showing sharp and pointed teeth. Was he even human?

\- "Oh sorry!"

She quickly shook his hand.

"I am Fiore Veracini, nice to meet you Sir Pheles."

\- "Hmm, Veracini..." He mumbled. "Sounds like a pasta brand to me."

She tilted her head, unsure about what she had just heard.

\- "W... What have you said?"

\- "Oh, nothing my dear! I was thinking aloud~"

\- "But..."

He abruptly turned to Yukio, cutting her phrase off.

\- "Thank you for your help Mister Okumura, you may leave now!"

\- "Sure, Sir."

Before leaving the room, he looked at her and told:

"See you in class miss!"

In class? Didn't he tell he was an exorcist already? Mephisto patted a chair, indicating the girl to seat. He briefly looked in the pile of paperwork displayed on his desk and extracted a file on which she caught sight of her name.

\- "Well well, let's see..."

He opened the file and started reading it.

\- "17 years old Italian violinist, has been playing on international scenes from the age of 9. Pretty impressive if you ask me."

She ignored his monologue as he continued to browse through her application form. A grin appeared on his lips.

\- "A reputation that you somehow managed to ruin in one single night during an important contest where you suddenly started yelling at the judges, telling them to 'go back to fucking Hell' as noted here... My, what an impulsive young lady we have there!"

She covered her entirely red face with one hand, too ashamed to even look at the headmaster in the eyes. Well, life has ups and downs. Was she naive to the point of thinking this story wouldn't follow her at the opposite corner of the world? Well, she certainly was. Seeing that she would do nothing but remaining silent, Sir Pheles added:

\- "A payoff would sure have been a better option than yelling at the judges if you were that much concerned about your talent, my girl."

His words made her choke. That was a very sensitive topic and he figured that out pretty well. Fiore was ready to undergo all the mockery and humiliation possible about that night's events but talking about her lack of aptitude was something she would not tolerate: she had already have enough with her own parents.

\- "With all due respect Sir, you are completely off track: I did NOT yell at the judges! Anyway why did you make me come all the way from Italy to criticize my art?"

In fact she wouldn't be surprised if he did. The more time passed and the more that unpleasant feeling grew in her chest. There was something wrong with that freaky guy. Mephisto chuckled slightly, revealing his sharp fangs once again. Leaning his elbows against his desk, he brought his head closer to the girl who instinctively recoiled.

\- "If that wasn't at the judges then who were you yelling at, dear girl?"

His voice had changed. His unsetting tone made Fiore shiver. She didn't want to look at the headmaster in the eyes but somehow felt that she had no choice. Their green eyes reflected each other as the two sides of a miror. She nervously gulped.

\- "During my performance that night... There was a group of demons messing around the jury. They seemed very excited and I... I was afraid that one of the men would get bitten like I was. Nobody else in the entire hall could see those demons but... The fact is... That night, I yelled at the goblins, Sir."

The man now looked at her with a satisfied smile and grabbed her application form again.

\- "Received her Temptain by a hobgobelin at the age of 12 as she wandered alone in a forest at night..." He read. "Didn't your parents warn you about the scary monsters in the forest, mmh~?"

\- "There is nothing scary about nature, Sir. That's even my favourite place to play music."

His eyes opened wide.

\- "You play violin alone in the forest?"

She nodded.

\- "Everynight. That's my daily training. Or should I say nightly training."

\- "How peculiar. Nota bene, I'd die to hear the Moonlight Sonata in such a scenery~"

\- "That's very cliché."

\- "Indeed." He chuckled. "So I guess it is time to talk about the special classes you'll be attending?"

\- "That's the only reason I am here."

A nasty grin emerged at the corner of his lips.

\- "Tell me... Why do you want to study exorcism, my dear?"

That was actually a good question. Being the only person able to see demons in her family, she was called a fool and saw her parents slowly turn away from her. The incident at the contest two years ago was the straw that broke it all. The more she grew fascinated for those creatures and the harder she wanted to leave her place to learn about them.

\- "I guess I only want to know more about the beasts who ruined my life. I aim for Tamer as my meister, if I can get demons to cooperate with me instead of arguing with them that would be a good thing."

\- "Tamer hm? How girly."

\- "That was very cliché **again** , Sir."

His smirk widened to eventually turn into a hearty laugh.

\- "Very well then... _Ein, zwei, drei_..."

With a cloud of pink smoke, a set of keys magically appeared in his hands. He held it out to a somewhat unphased Fiore. Nothing from this weird man could surprise her anymore.

\- "The golden key will take you to your exorcism cramschool. Put it in any lock and it will open the way. Oh, make sure you're alone everytime you'll use it. Classes begin at 5pm every afternoon except on Sunday."

\- "Thank you. But what about the other keys?"

\- "I'll let you find out by yourself my dear."

As he finished his sentence, the sound of a cuckoo-clock rang across the room.

\- "My, so late already? I'm afraid I'll have to shorten our talk dear miss Veracini. I'll have someone taking you to your dormitory."

\- "Fine, thank you Sir Pheles."

\- "I'm sure we'll meet again very soon~"

She left her seat and headed to the door with her new set of keys tinkling between her hand.

\- "However..." He added.

She turned her head, giving him a side-look.

\- "... I would advise you not to venture into the campus' forest at night. You're free to access the music room anytime you want instead, one of the keys will lead you there"

\- "Is there anything I should know about this forest?"

\- "Well... I've heard some rumors about a very territorial monster lurking there. That would be _a pity_ if something happened to such a beautiful young lady like you."

Strangely, his words sounded more like a threat than a warning. Warning that Fiore decided to ignore.

\- "That's fine then, I love talking to monsters."

\- "Oh I doubt you can talk to this one. From what I know he doesn't seem very skilled with words."

A warm smile appeared on her now relaxed face.

\- "Words? I don't need those." She said, pointing her violin case. "This is the only language I'm fluent into."

* * *

With these words she left the office, letting the headmaster alone with a thoughtful face.

\- "I look forward to hearing you two converse then, dear girl."

* * *

.

 **I hope you enjoyed this prelude... ahem, _prologue_. As I am not sure about my writting skills in English I'd like to hear what you guys think about it, so please don't be afraid to review! **


	2. Nocturne

**Chapter II: Nocturne**

* * *

" _Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent_ "

 _\- Victor Hugo._

* * *

Fiore's first day in Japan was relatively stressful and tiring. Hardly had she reached her dormitory and found her room that she threw her luggages on the floor and crumbled in bed. She was laying on her back, eyes and mouth slightly open while recalling every single thing that had happened since her arrival. How long had she been laying like that? She couldn't even tell... All she had in mind was this terrible day torn between the plane, the train, this new insane place and her short meeting with the headmaster. It could seem like nothing much from an outside view, but her overwhelming feeling of melancholy and loneliness suggested that she might have been affected way more than she thought. After all, she had left her country all of her own to study exorcism and learn about demons, that really _was_ something! Still lost in her thoughts she wondered what was the time difference between Italy and Japan. Eight hours? Nine maybe? What time was it there? Was her family thinking about her? Probably not. They didn't even want to bring her to the airport.

 _Fool._

 _Unworthy daughter._

She was very thankful to Sir Pheles when she noticed that she had a room all to herself. Not that she didn't want some company but with such a gloomy state of mind, she was unsure she would have been able to socialize and make new friends. At least, not human friends. Maybe later once she would feel better.

 **Groan**.

The sound of her hungry stomach pulled her out of her thoughts. She didn't get the occasion to eat since she landed in Japan, her last meal being the one supplied in the plane but fortunately, as food was a very important topic, she had planned _everything_. She rolled over on her bed and heard the bedspring cracking at each of her movements.

 _Tss, talk about a quality school..._

She left it with a jump only to rush to the luggages that were still laying across the room. Picking the smallest one, she opened her secret treasure: packs of Italian biscuits. **Dozens** of them filled the entire travel bag. She grabbed one of the packs which made her mouth water already: **Pan di Stelle**. Italia's most famous cookies. The girl made sure to get a substential stock of those to survive for a few months before leaving her country as she was confident she wouldn't find it anywhere else and honestly, a cookie deprivation was the worst thing she could ever think about.

As she was about to open her precious snack, she glanced briefly at the clock hanging on the wall in front of her which made the girl suddenly forget her hunger. She jumped to the window as fast as her tired body could manage and opened the curtains in pure excitation. Both her eyes and smile widened at the view.

 _Nighttime._

Finally. She had been waiting for this moment more than anything else. The darkness and fresh air the evening brought, the white rays of the moonlight shivering on the pathways now empty of all human presence... Everything was quiet and hidden from prying eyes. Her moment had come. A warm smile appeared on her lips whilst she grabbed her violin case and the set of keys which were resting next to her pillow. She walked past a mirror as she rushed towards the door, eager to leave but unexpectedly froze in horror at the sight of her own reflection. Taking a better look at her face made her cringe: her hair were messier than ever and she had eye bags that they would easily compete Mephisto's. She also noticed that she was still wearing the same clothes since yesterday: a mid-long grey skirt that somehow wrinckled all over and a white blouse. Classical outfit which she would rather keep for music training sessions at home but in some way she found it to be a good and comfortable option for her plane trip. She wavered in front of the mirror for a while, thinking whether she should change or not but eventually gave up on the idea considering that nobody except demons would get to see her tonight. After all, why the hell would she need a formal outfit to run and play in the middle of the wild with monsters?

Squeezing her violin tight against her chest, she put one of the keys in the lock and turned until she heard the typical unlocking sound. Was it really wise to roam over the academy despite the curfew and Mephisto's warning? Of course. That made the thing even more entertaining.

Mephisto's speech about the monster suddenly replayed in her mind. She shook her head as if to get rid of those unwanted thoughts. That couldn't be true. If such a dangerous monster inhabited the forest, why would Sir Pheles let it live so close to the campus and his precious students?

Ready to face any warning, threat or trouble to find the place dear to her heart and with her most radiant smile, instrument and cookies, she opened the door and dove into the unknown place that the key offered to her.

 _Let's go_.

* * *

She was now outside, for her geatest delight. The nocturnal air caressed her face, drawing away a slight shudder. The place was a real feast for her eyes: she was standing on top of an ancient-looking stone bridge overlooking the whole academy's grounds. Behind her was standing one of the school's buildings and in front: a very pretty Japanese house surrounded by a myriad of plants and trees. On a large panel she could read "Exorcist Shop". That obviously wasn't the forest she was looking for but she had to admit this place was charming. Taking advantage of the height of the bridge, she scanned the horizon in the hope of catching an interesting view amongst the dark. It didn't take long for her gaze to land on her goal: a heavily wooded area. But unfortunately, that was at the opposite side of the academy and there was no way she could get there from her current location.

Nevermind, she still had a lot of keys. While going back to the door that brought her here, she nevertheless turned one last time to contemplate the house with a melancholic look.

After a short contemplation she opened the door and left for the next place.

Said next place was totally plunged into complete darkness, not allowing her to distinguish a single thing . She was totally blinded however, she caught a very familiar scent. The dry smell of wood and old paper that she knew for a very long time. Very slowly, she became aware of the place she ventured into. She smiled, thinking that memories and smell sometimes formed a unlikely pairing as she fumbled in the dark. Soon enough her shaky hands landed on the power switch, allowing her to turn on the light and reveal the room.

 _A music class._

She was impressed by the size of the room. On the white walls were hanging various posters, some paintings of famous composers and shelves filled with collections of music scores of all styles and eras. About twenty school benches were placed at the far end of the room and in front, vitrines containing an impressive number of instruments such as flutes and violins.

Reigning in front of this remarkable display, an expensive grand piano, a harp, a few cellos and other instruments surely too voluminous to be stored in the vitrines. The girl also noticed a large desk near the wall against which she was leaning, undoubtedly the teacher's desk. The room was beautiful and brought the academy up to Fiore's esteem. Just, how loaded was Sir Pheles? While continuing her investigation, a white handwritting draw her attention on the class' blackboard.

" _My dear miss Spaghetti,_

 _I hope our music room fits your taste and requirements._

 _Feel free to use it anytime you want~_

 _M. Pheles_ "

She clenched her teeth, letting a nervous laugh escape from her throat. **_Miss Spaghetti_**. It was obvious that he expected her presence here, as well as he seemed to like those galling pasta-jokes. She closed her eyes and breathed slowly as a desperate attempt to calm down. That clown was _really_ getting on her nerves. She then walked over to the music scores stored on the shelves. Briefly examining the different categories , her eyes stopped on the nocturnes.

 _Perfect._

After all, what could be better than a nocturne to accompany such a beautiful spring night?

She picked one at random without even looking at the title or compositor and smiled at the booklet: Chopin's Nocturne 20 in C-sharp minor , one of her favourite. Pleased with her choice, she turned off the light and left the room, promising to herself that she would come back very soon in this wonderful class.

* * *

The keys led her to several places: a library, the main entrance of the academy, the hallway of Sir Pheles' office, but it took her several attempts before she could eventually reach her goal: a dirt path surrounded by trees leading straight to the forest.

 _Finally._

There was a large metallic fence in front of her. She approached the huge gratings and gasped in horror as she saw a heart-shaped pink padlock that kept them closed. The contrast of this thing with the rustic metal was in extremely poor taste and strangely reminded her of Mephisto . She held back a curse as she measured the height of the fence: they were at least 3 meters tall with sharp spikes on top, which would make the climbing very difficult.

 _Damn it!_

As she was examining the obstacle in search of a breach, she noticed something clinging to the padlock: a piece of white paper. Said paper was delicately embedded between the steel chain and, surprising thing: an elegant purple ribbon was wrapping it. Very Mephisto-ish indeed. Whatever it could be... that couldn't be good. She took the note and unfolded it. What she read made her choke.

.

 _"Vaffanculo~" (F*ck you~)_

 _._

A flow of insults echoed in the dark. Mephisto knew fully well that she would still try to access the forest and Fiore was sure that in the end, seeing her getting angry was all he wanted. This clown have had each of her very movements planned ahead and was playing with her. She had only known him for a short time but it seemed apparent that he was the manipulative and mendacious type. A real demon.

 _So, you want to play?_

She stared at the top of the fence with a grin: there was no question of giving up so easily. After all, he had given her a key leading to the forest, so she wouldn't be blamed for it if, by an unfortunate coincidence , she found herself on the other side of the fence. .. Or would she?

Making sure the space between the bar spacing was large enough, she then slid her violin case, music score and biscuits in between. Grabbing the bars in her hands, she began to climb.

Climbing up to the top was relatively simple but she was then confronted with a very less convenient issue: the spikes. How to get through these things without getting impaled? Well, wearing a skirt would not help.

 _I must look like an idiot._

She carefully lifted herself over the fence, cautious to not let her skin or clothes touch the deadly pins as she managed to reach the other side. Everything seemed to go perfectly well when she suddenly felt some resistance coming from her clothes.

 _Please, no._

The hemline of her skirt got stuck all over the spikes and with her hands being fully busy holding the weight of her own body, there was no way she could get rid of it. She still tried to hold on to the bars with one hand in attempt to free herself, praying for it not to tear during the process. But luck was not her ally and didn't care about her prayers: scarcely had she uttered those words that the skirt tore away, sending the girl crashing brutally in the grass.

 _Go to Hell, Sir Pheles_.

She got up after a few seconds of dizziness , rubbing her scratch ed legs with a wince on her face. The bottom of her skirt was scattered with holes but at least, she _did_ it.

Taking her shoes off and quickly grabbing her precious violin and other stuffs that awaited on the grass, Fiore vanished in the darkness of the forest.

* * *

How could she ever explain her adoration for nature? She had already tried to put words on her feelings several times, but no adjective, no word seemed powerful enough to describe it. Nature was her secret. Forest was her refuge.

She followed the few rays of light piercing through the green foliage, slipping quietly through the trees. Jumping over the roots, twirling between bushes and plants, leaping from rock to rock, she felt so jolly and free that she was almost convinced that there was nothing her bare feet could not cross. She kept running deeper into this wild heaven, frantically searching for the ideal place and yet she could already feel the presence of a few demons watching her silently in the shadows. After a short while of searching she finally found a forest clearning flooded by an intense moonlight . The bluish reflection of the moon and nature gave the place a surreal atmosphere which, for an instant, gave her the impression to contemplate a painting. Absolute silence reigned supreme: not a single sound could reach her ears, neither the song of the curious demons following her, nor the wind blowing over the trees above her.

This place felt like a dream. This place was her new refuge, her new music room.

Without a sound she placed her stuffs on the grass and opened the music score booklet on the first page. She knew that piece well and probably wouldn't need to follow it entirely but she somehow liked to keep an eye at the introduction, as if she wanted to check the rhythm and tone of the first notes.

She delicately took her violin and its bow out of the case: the precious instrument was of a dark and brilliant wood, which reflected the bluish light.

As she did this, demons were becoming more and more agitated.

 _Well, time to introduce each other._

Fiore hit the grass with her bare foot to set the tempo then, after a few beats, set her bow on the strings and let Chopin's Nocturne flow over the silent scenery.

As soon as the first notes emerged from the tensed strings, her long awaited spectators finally appeared. Slowly approaching the mysterious musician was an impressive group of Earth demons: hobgoblins, dekalps, greenmen and some species that she had never seen before.

As if by magic, the peaceful forest was now immersed in a melancholic atmosphere. Demons were circling around her slowly as her fingers ran across the strings.

Wrong note.

 _But who cares_?

This one was too high-pitched.

 _Nobody is judging anyway_.

Low and slow notes gradually changed into high-pitched ones, making the violin cry as the chords shivered under her fingers.

The pace changed again, leading her entire being as she started moving with the creatures, leading them all in a unintentional yet harmonious dance. She has been waiting for this moment for hours. This flow of emotions boiling inside of her, those things that couldn't be said with words but couldn't remain silent. Tonight, in this remoted place, Fiore was finally free to tell it all.

There she was, standing in the moonlight.

* * *

 _(An illustration featuring Amaimon has been made for this very special moment. Go on DeviantArt and type "AmaiFiore" on the searching bar to see it._

* * *

 _There was a human standing in the moonlight._

The green-haired demon couldn't believe his eyes. He couldn't believe his _ears_. There, dancing between the trees was a girl whose melody filled the usual silence of the night.

Who was she? What was she doing in his forest? How did she manage to venture here? What was this tune which seemed to arise from her?

A thousand questions crossed his mind as he was quietly observing the recital of the stranger, narrowly hidden in the dark.

She only was a shadow, a thin silhouette whose long hairs were floating like a ghost's veil and from who moonlight glowed through the holes of her ripped skirt. An ethereal shape moving backlight, offering to his usually bored eyes the most entertaining image he could ever expect. She was holding something in her hands, an instrument that he knew humans used to make music. But _her_ music sounded different. No voice broke out of her mouth and yet the girl seemed to sing which led to all his fellow Earth-demons to join her in her song. How could such a thing happen? Was she really human?

 _Who are you?_

Should he kill her? Maybe scare her so she would leave his territory? Or should he only interrupt this wordless speech?

 _No_. _At least, not now_. Strangely, he had no desire for this show to ever cease: he who usually spent most of his time alone and bored suddenly found himself facing a scene that somehow caught his breath and interest.

If only the singular scene of his demons whirl ing at the sound of her notes could last forever.

A steam of overwhelming feelings flowed over him as her playing became more intense.

Demons followed each of her steps as she moved, screaming her sorrow through her instrument, beging whoever would listen to her heartbreaking lament to join her in this painful yet fascinating scene.

The wind that had suddenly risen blewing through the trees, the rustling of the leaves, the echoed tone of demons accompanying her wordless speech... Nature seemed to respond with all her strength to each of her musical notes, making their voices resonate in perfect harmony.

 _Ah..._

 _That was even better to watch than Rin's flames. That was simply beautiful_.

The song then became sadder and sadder. Very soon, her pace slowed down. Every creature circled her as the last chord was now dying, more and more until silence finally won his battle by taking the very last sound away.

 _Why did this have to stop..._

Silence stayed still for a short moment. A short moment during which she caught her breath, slowly lowering her arms and instrument under the watchful eyes of her demonic spectators. Then she bowed to them, as if she was paying her respects to a jury. Immediately, the group of demons burst into joy, hopping frantically around her. They had enjoyed that moment just as much as she did and seemed delighted with the performance of their new friend.

She crouched, inviting them to get closer and without the slightest concern, petted a hobgoblin who had leapt on her lap. Several young greenmen also climbed to her shoulders but surprisingly, she did not flinch. Wasn't she afraid of demons?

 _What an interesting human._

Lead by his curiosity, he jumped into the nearest tree and sneaked from one branch to another until he found himself perched right above her. There, he could finally discern all the features of the mysterious girl.

Just as he had guessed, she didn't look Japanese at all. She looked more like a transfer student from Europe or America. She had a messy auburn hairstyle that reminded him of a lion's mane. A very expressive yet soft face on which her forest-green colored eyes were shining. She overal looked very tired and somewhat sad. Besides her torn clothes covered with mud and grass, he also noticed many fresh scratches on her legs. This messy young woman wasn't the most pleasant human to the eyes but the demon stood still watching her from every angle, discreetly seeking contact with her eyes.

Tired and literally trampled by demons, the girl collapsed against a tree. She then closed her eyes and put a finger on her lips, asking the creatures to calm down. Against all the green-haired demon's expectations , they obeyed and stopped their infernal uproar. She sighed deeply.

 _Why didn't she talk to them?_

She had not talked a single word since she had first entered this forest, the only sounds being only those from her instrument. The boy wanted to hear her real voice. He would have really wanted to show himself and ask her who she was, why she ventured into this forest, how her instrument worked, how she had done to befriend his demons but for some reason, he didn't do it, though he couldn't tell why.

But hey, why did he even bother with that?

Now that her show was over, should he kill her?

For once, he didn't want to.

He clenched his fists as a sensation he had never known before grew in his chest. For the first time he did not want to spare a human life out of pity but out of admiration and to him, it felt horribly wrong. Enpathy was a weakness he could not allow.

 _She's a mere toy. I **should** kill her._

Lost in thoughts, his eyes suddenly widened as she grabbed and opened the pack of biscuits. He caught a scent of cocoa and sugar.

 _She has sweets_.

Sweets that he had never tried before. The package wasn't even written in Japanese.

 _Foreign sweets_.

Fiore took one of the cookies out of the pack and as she was just about to eat it, something poked the top of her head. Startled, she quickly looked up but saw nothing.

 _What on Earth_...

A few seconds later she noticed that her biscuits and music score had gone missing and she froze in shock: in front of her was standing a human silhouette. She got up with a jump, eager to follow it but it had vanished into thin air already. The shape had dashed off so quickly that all she got too see was a tuft of green hair.

 _Not my food, damnit!_

She looked at the demons around her which froze as well. All of them were immobile and looking down.

Did they just bow down at this thing? Was it the monster Mephisto told her about? She stared at the direction he had left by, totally unaware that said monster was staring at her as well, hidden in the obscurity. They stayed for what felt like eternity before Fiore decided to quit staring and turn away. She carefully put her violin back in its case and, giving a last smile at her demonic spectators, left the beautiful place filled with moonlight.

 _Monsters love sweet things, it seems._

The demon looked at her, his eyes following each of her steps as she was slowly disappearing into the dark. Tonight, instead of taking her life, he decided that he would only take her book and her cookies. After all, this human entered _his_ territory and played with _his_ demons without asking for permission so that was the toll for entering his forest.

* * *

Now alone and plunged into silence again, the boy stared at the book.

"Chopin: _Nocturne 20 in C-sharp mino_ r for piano and violin"

What the hell was a C-sharp minor? When he opened it, he was surprised to see that there were no words in it but only a lot of weird black symbols resting on a multitude of symmetric lines. He frowned. Was it written in Arabic? He turned the book upside down. Maybe some kind of modern Hebrew? How comes he couldn't understand a thing and yet this girl seemed to read it just fine?

 _Brother should know what language is this._

After all, Samael has lived for centuries here in Assiah and knew a lot of things about a lot of civilizations. If anyone should know, it would be him. Amaimon headed to his brother's mansion, the mind full of images and questions about this night's events and that girl. The girl who spoke a language unknown to most of her own kind.


	3. Crescendo

**Index:**

 ** _Crescendo_** : musical term describing a progressive increase in intensity.

 _ **Devil's Trill Sonata**_ : ( _Il trillo del diavolo_ ) is a solo violin piece composed by the Italian violinist Guiseppe Tartini. There is an interesting story behind this sonata in which Tartini had dreamed that a demon had appeared to him and asked to be his student. At the end of the lesson, Tartini handed him his violin to test his skills, which the demon began to play with virtuosity, delivering an intense and magnificent violin performance. Once awake, the man recreated this song and called it the Devil's Trill Sonata.

 _ **Chapter III: Crescendo**_

* * *

 _It is cruel, you know, that music should be so beautiful._

 _It has the beauty of loneliness of pain: of strength and freedom. The beauty of disappointment and never-satisfied love._

 _The cruel beauty of nature and everlasting beauty of monotony._

* * *

The office's window opened with a slamming noise which snatched a gasp from Mephisto. The demon growled at the Earth King coming in, spreading a trail of dried mud from his boots as he jumped in.

\- Amaimon!

The green-haired demon didn't bother to reply and grabbed a bag of chips before he sat on a pink sofa, all this without looking at his brother. Amaimon used to spend most of the night in the forest with his demonic kin and wasn't supposed to come back before a few more hours. Surprised to see him home so soon and not really thrilled at the idea of hearing crunching sounds during his administrative work, Mephisto asked:

\- "To what do I owe your early return? I am still busy with paperwork and would appreciate if you could get back to your occupations until I am done."

With his usual bored expression, the youngest handed the music score.

\- "Brother, would you happen to know what language is this book written into?" He asked.

Mephisto blinked. This question was, at the least, unusual. He took the booklet out of his brother's hands and his eyes widened.

\- "Where have you found it?"

\- "In the forest." He said. "I stole it from a human."

The purple haired man froze. A human? In the campus forest? Could it be... Reading the cover once again, his answer suddenly became crystal-clear: _Nocturne 20 in C-sharp mino_ r for piano and **violin.** Of course **.**

 _Miss Spaghetti._

\- "Tell me, was that human, by any chance, a young auburn-haired female?"

Amaimon tilted his head and dropped his snack.

\- "She was, but how would you know?"

\- "She turns out to be the new transfer student which I thoroughly asked **not** to venture into the forest a few hours ago. What a stubborn little thing..." He said while a large grin appeared on his lips.

\- "I see... But you haven't answered my question."

\- "Come again?"

\- "What language is this written into?"

Mephisto opened the booklet, revealing the large display of musical notes. He frowned at his brother at first, uncertain to get the meaning of his question, but couldn't retain a slight chuckle when he eventually got it.

\- "That's a music score, Amaimon."

\- "Score? I've never heard of such a thing before, what a weird language. Can you speak it too?"

\- "Speaking music score?"

Unable to hold it back any longer, the king of time bursted into a heartly laughter which obviously didn't please his younger sibling. Amaimon was now dangerously glaring at his brother.

\- "I **hate** being laughed at." He growled.

Struggling to catch his breath, Mephisto sniggered:

\- "Oh my sweet innocent little brother, there are still so many things you need to learn about Assiah~ I'm afraid this is a language you cannot speak."

The king of Earth frowned. What was this nonsense? Was his brother mocking him? Before he could say a thing, the oldest pointed at the black symbols.

\- "Those are not words but a complex system called musical notes. Each of these notes correlates with a sound that musicians play with their instruments. It doesn't make any sense when you look at it on the sheet but once you master the theory and play these notes correctly, it makes a melody."

\- "Oh... that makes sense now. But I can still learn how to read it, correct?"

\- "Would you like to? It's rather difficult for oneself but that would for sure kill that everlasting boredom of yours."

The green-haired male laid on the sofa, watching the ceiling blankly, though he seemed to be considering his options.

\- "Maybe." He mumbled. "Now that I've pretty much seen everything about this country, I better find a new game to play."

\- "My, that's quite surprising from you... However, playing music requires a lot of patience and a certain... sensitivity. Which you cruelly lack." He explained kindly, as not to upset the tempetuous demon. "Perhaps you could ask _her_ to teach you? This girl is a real prodigy on the matter, I am sure she could easily take on the task."

He kept silent for a moment again and stared attentively at the score. Mephisto rested in chin on his hands, looking at his younger sibling with a toothy smirk. Except for food and games, Amaimon had rarely shown any concern in human creations before, and even less in arts. Either he saw music as a game or he simply enjoyed listening to it and wanted to try by himself but in any case, he was almost certain that the young Italian had something to do with his little brother's sudden interest. As he recalled miss Veracini's words from their short meeting, he couldn't help but agree on that last phrase of hers. To reach Amaimon's attention as she did tonight, music really had to be the only language she was fluent into.

\- "May I ask you a question, little brother?"

\- "Mmm?"

\- "This female. Why did you allow her into your forest?"

The question snapped him out of his contemplation and he glanced at his brother with surprise. That didn't last long though, as Amaimon quickly turned over to avoid eye contact.

\- "She didn't mean any harm to my kin and, somehow... her presence was rather enjoyable."

Still avoiding his brother's sight, he got up from his sofa with the music score, visibly eager to leave.

\- "I also have a question for you, big brother." Amaimon said, his voice somehow filled with irritation.

\- "Please ask."

\- "What's _her_ name?"

\- "She answers to the delicate name of Fiore."

The young demon then jumped to the window, grabbing hold at the windowsill as he reached it.

\- "Amaimon?" Mephisto called before he could leave.

The Earth King glanced at his brother over his shoulder, keeping silent as his hold on his perch hardened, cracking the wood under his fingers.

\- "May I know why this sudden interest in such a mere _human_ custom?"

The Earth King turned his head, not allowing his brother to catch a glimse of this overwhelming flow of unknown emotions burning in his eyes. He stayed still for a few seconds, hands and teeth clenched while he watched down at the obscurity of the night. To be honest he didn't have a concrete answer to this question, eventhough he had already tried to build a rational argument out of his messy thoughts.

\- "As you said, I guess I just want to kill my boredom and this happen to be quite entertaining."

The older demon smiled slightly.

\- "Entertaining, mmh? Which one, her music... or the girl?"

He leapt out and vanished into thin air just as Mephisto finished his sentence, causing the man's warm smile to turn slowly into a devilish grin.

\- "Well... the two go together anyway."

That night, the Earth King went back to the forest, on the very same place where the young girl had played a few hours ago. All his thoughts were focused on the strange sensation which was growing inside of him.

 _That hurts._

Yes, it really did. Emotions of any kind were painful to him. But no matter how masochistic this might perhaps sound, he still wanted to hear that music of hers.

 _Stupid human body._

Possessing a body was a rare chance and enjoying the primary pleasures of a life of flesh and blood was what every demon could dream about, however, he would never get used to those unpleasant emotions that went together with this human life. Was that the punishment inflicted to demons for their lust, their sins? Was that the price to simply exist in this world?

 _Things are so much easier in Gehenna..._

That night, Amaimon didn't get back to his brother's mansion. Silence seemed to be a way better option while in his chest, his heart was beating crescendo.

 _Who are you, human?_

* * *

Her encounter with the Forest monster didn't prevent Fiore to sleep like a baby. Not that she didn't think about him, but fatigue easily took over her tired body. When she woke up, the sun was already high and the whole dormitory building was empty of its residents. Fiore rested all sprawled out on her bed, happy for not having classes like other students. Her hard musical education didn't allow the girl to attend a regular school so she had always been homeschooled before, which, in a way, suited her just fine as she was now well ahead of the programme. Basically, the only classes she had to take here were exorcism ones.

She grabbed her cellphone on the bedside table and glanced at the time on the lock screen. She chuckled at this sight: Friday, **3** **pm**. Even a grizzly bear wouldn't compete. Fiore spent a short time on her phone, checking messages and various apps. Damn, lazying felt so good. Today, time wasn't really a problem as her cramschool only started on next monday. The reason? She had arrived quite late in the year and had been asked by Mephisto himself to catch up on theoric courses before attending class, which let her the whole weekend to do so. Scrolling through her mailbox she noticed a message from the headmaster. Her eyes widened.

She was supposed to meet with mister Okumura 30 minutes later to get all her exorcism courses supplies.

 _Are you kidding me?_

She left her bed with a jump, sending the phone to crash on the floor at the same time. Stopping in front of the mirror, she gasped once again at her own reflection. Was that _grass_ in her hair?

 _Well... Time to think about an excuse for my forthcoming lateness._

* * *

\- "Good afternoon miss Veracini! I almost thought you weren't coming." Said the young man, sitting at his desk.

\- "Mister Okumura. I apologize for the slight delay." She said, fakely affected.

\- "Slight? You're three hours late, you know." He chuckled. "Anyway, Sir Pheles told me you would probably be late."

\- "Did he?"

\- "I am not holding it against you miss, don't worry. I guess you needed some consequent rest after such a travel."

He proceeded to put a pile of files away. Visibly he had paperwork to keep him occupied, which helped Fiore getting rid of her guilt. How could she even explain that grass and dried mud were a living hell to take off from her long wavy hair? And most importantly: how could she admit that she fell asleep **again** while trying to get said mud off of said hair? Some things in a girl's life had to remain secret.

She had to meet him in his own class located in the cramschool's building. Luckily she had her keys and didn't have to search for too long before finding the correct location.

Yukio then asked her to follow him at the bottom of the class where he picked various manuals from a large cupboard, listing each of the books as he handled them to Fiore.

 _A guide to Meisters. Psalms and Incantations. Complete History of the True-Cross Order. Demonic Elements Chart,..._

There was a massive number of textbooks already; so massive that the girl had to place them on a nearby desk, unable to carry their weight. The more manuals Yukio handled to her and the less thrilled was the girl, who seriously wondered how she could manage to read all of them before her first class on Monday. Fortunately for her, Mephisto made sure to get her English copies of the textbooks, without which she would have been at a total loss.

 _Latin Method. Ancient Greek. Hebraic Scriptures._

Were those really necessary for a first year student?

 _Herbalism: a complete study of botany and uses of plants._

At least, this one seemed interesting.

They kept listing textbooks for a while until Yukio held the last one to her: a thick encyclopedia whose pages were printed in a multitude of colors.

\- "Illustrated guide to Demons." He said gravely. "An exorcist's must-have and probably the most important book out of there."

\- "Mmm, are all demons listed in there?"

\- "Most of them, at least. Why? Is there a specific demon you're looking for?

She suddenly blushed. Of course there was one, but she absolutely didn't want Yukio to know about her nightly forest-getaways.

\- "Oh... well... not really but... Let's say it's out of purely general interest?

\- "I see... Shall we take a look together?"

She nodded and the two sit side by side at Yukio's desk. He opened the huge book, revealing its precious content.

\- "This masterpiece is a wealth of information. I said most of the existing demons are listed in it because, of course, there are still many of them unknown to Humanity as well as ancient spirits which have become extinct and whose informations were insufficient to be featured."

He pointed at the summary on which eight main categories were displayed.

\- "Demons are classified by their kin, which is their affinity to one of the eight demonic elements and the demon king, also called Ba'al, which embodies said element. But I guess you've already heard about that?"

\- "Indeed, I've heard about the different elements. Not their kings, though."

\- "That's okay miss, everything in its own time." He said gently. "See, anytime you want to check something about a demon, you must first determine its kin and browse through the proper category. You will then be able to deepen your research thanks to informations like its geographical distribution, its level, aptitudes or dangerousness. We tend to use this book on a daily basis in class so make sure to get used to it before Monday."

\- "Impressive work. And I will, thank you Mr. Okumura."

His phone began ringing before she could finish her phrase. Yukio excused himself and moved a little further in the class to pick up the call. Fiore didn't get a single word he said since the boy was speaking Japanese. She couldn't help but think that she really should make efforts to learn this peculiar language as she would be stuck in the country for the next few years. His call now ended, Yukio sighed deeply before coming back to the girl.

\- "I am sorry miss but I have an emergency and must leave."

\- "I understand. I quickly should start studying anyway."

\- "At least allow me to help you carry all these books back to your dorm?"

\- "I'll gladly accept that." She sneered, looking at the mountain of manuals.

* * *

The two teenagers headed to Fiore's dormitory carrying armloads of books. The boy then left, leaving Fiore alone with the impressive supplies. Without further ado she grabbed the illustred guide and jumped on her bed, well determined to identify the forest monster.

She gathered the few informations she had about him and began her search. First, she guessed he was an Earth demon. Probably because he had green fur and lived in a forest. That was actually a pretty poor assumption but also the only track she had. She opened the book and browsed until she reached the green-boarded pages.

 _That's it, earth demons._

\- "Kin of Amaimon?" She read on the main page.

Was that the name of the king who ruled over all those creatures? She kept browsing, looking for her second piece of information.

 _High-level earth demons._

After all, her little spectators from last night bowed down to this thing, he surely might be someone important.

 _High-level humanoid earth demons._

His silhouette was human. That was one of the only things she could perceive in the dark but at least, she was sure about it. She turned the few pages to what constitued the human-shaped creatures and as she reached the very last one, her heart missed a beat. There weren't many humanoid Earth demons, but the only one with green hair was...

\- "Amaimon, Seventh Ba'al, the King of Earth."

She took a better look at his image pictured in the book. A green-haired young male with a bored face was sitting on an elegant armchair while holding the leash of a hobgoblin. A nervous laugh came out of her throat as she was reading his description.

\- "Seventh strongest Ba'al. Personnage of authority in Gehenna who bears the title of King of Earth. He is the leader of all demons who bear a relation to earth. Extremely dangerous and merciless, Amaimon is also known for his total lack of human emotions."

She laughed for good, this time.

 _Nonsense._

What would such a powerful ancestral demon do in the forest of a rich kid school? That could **not** be him.

Confident that he wasn't the demon she saw last night, she closed the book without even reading his entire description. A prince of Hell in a small forest surrounded by exorcists... the only idea was laughable. Plus, she was still alive whilst this Amaimon was described as a ruthless killer. But if the monster wasn't that demon she just read about, then who was he? There was only one way to find it out.

She quickly glanced at her room's windows and smiled at the view of nighttime. Perfect timing.

Fiore picked her violin case, her keys and a bag of cookies before rushing to the door. As she turned the key, she found herself freezing for a short moment.

 _Why am I shaking?_

Many feelings boiled inside of her.

 _That hurts._

Actually, her entire body shivered with nervousness. The fear of the unknown was something all humans were subjects to and Fiore, her, had experienced it more than her fair share between the stage fright and the arrival of the demonic creatures in her life. But no matter how masochistic this might perhaps sound, she still wanted to play her music and meet that silent spectator of her nightly recitals. She had to go.

Fiore closed the door and left for the forest, her mind full of doubts and questions while in her chest, her heart was beating crescendo.

 _Who are you, demon?_

* * *

Retrieving the forest was a real delight. She hardly had entered the silent refuge that her fears had vanished already. She wasn't running like she did last night but walked at a slow pace instead, eager to admire every detail as she passed by. She remembered those trees through which she quietly slipped, those bushes and plants between which she jumped. Led by her memories, Fiore followed the path to the forest clearning. The girl breathed deeply, enjoying the fresh air and silence that reigned at first until a friendly round shape sprang up from a bush and inexpertly crashed on her chest, causing her to fall back down on the grass. Stunned, she tried to identify her assailant, what was kinda difficult as her face was savagely assaulted by a huge leaky tongue. After a quick and gentle tussle, she managed to get the monster off of her: a hobgoblin. The one she had petted on her laps last night.

The green ball-shaped demon trampled frantically on the grass and emitted weird -and pretty disgusting, depending on the perspective- watery groans. He seemed extremely happy to see the musician. So, did he enjoy her playing that much? Demons were truly easily satisfied creatures.

She got up and dusted herself off. Her hands were now strangely soaked with sticky -and smelly- demonic drool, what seemed to amuse her little green friend a lot.

 _Eeeeek._

With a nod, she invited the goblin to follow her and very soon, the two arrived in the place filled with moonlight. Her music room. To her greatest surprise, all her spectators of the day before were gathered there, waiting for her. Her smile widened. Despite how sad she had been to leave her usual Italian forest and its habitants, she already loved those Japanese one. Of course they wouldn't replace the ones she had left, but still they gave her the impression of being loved and important, a thing that the girl needed more than ever on these difficult times, as she couldn't fill the void with her own kind.

A group of small greenmen lifted her violin case to her, all together in a myriad of sharp little cry. She gently took it away from them, thanked them with a smile and opened it, revealing the wooden instrument before their watchful eyes. They then all bursted into joy. Well, the message was clear.

Demons weren't the cruel and evil beasts everyone thought they were. They were actually the most faithful of things, at least, once someone managed to earn their respect, which wasn't an easy task. But Fiore had her music, which had this intriguing ability to reach their heart where words would probably fail. Music notes and silence were indeed one same and fascinating language.

She suddenly heard a sound coming from the trees around her. She knew her silent spectator was here, watching her through the shadows. Would she get the chance to see him tonight?

She grabbed her volin and its bow, set it under her chin and asked for silence, thinking about a song which would suit the moment. But what could possibly suit this unspeakable mix of feelings torn between melancholy, joy and fear? The more she thought about it and the more intense it grew. That was a real emotional crescendo caused by the earth-devil whose image refused to leave her mind.

So she would also go crescendo in this revised version of hers.

* * *

Of course, said silent spectator was there from the beginning. In fact, he had been waiting the whole day long in this same place. There was no way he would have missed it. Sitting on the large branch of a tree, the demon watched the nightly scenery with attention.

From the moment her bow first touched the tensed chords, he felt his heartbeat hasten, which made him wonder how a simple sound could cause such a reaction. Her playing was slow and at first barely audible. It irradiated a dark, sad aura but somehow, as she kept moving, the sound seemed to gradually gain in intensity. Earth-demons turned slowly around her, encircling the girl like if she was their prey. She played a song that he had already heard before, a tune created and played since hundred of years by a human who met with one of his kind in dreams. This human offered his intrument to the demon and taught him how to play. The song then became a way for humans to tame and please demons, and every Gehennian spirit, even Amaimon, knew it very well:

 _Devil's Trill Sonata_.

A large smile appeared on his usually emotionless face.

Her playing differed a bit though. The notes seemed to compete each other, each of them being faster and louder than the last, just like her steps as she stomped the ground with a wild group of hobgoblins.

It had escalated again, now replacing the eerie and melancholic tone with a happy, more lively one. A toothy smile slowly grew on the violinist's face, tinting her cheeks in a pale red at the same time. The view of her devilish grin, her hair flowing in moonlight and the glow of her eyes made the demon's entire body shiver.

 _Woah._

She had now gone totally wild, swirling and jumping in the air with the demons while still keeping a perfect control over her instrument. That scene was insane, a messy mix of sounds and emotions which she had unconsciously shared with the whole place.

She then suddenly stopped walking and stood on a tree stump to focus on her arms and fingers whose movments were so fast that human eyes probably couldn't follow their pace.

From soft to loud.

From minor to major.

From darkness to light.

A crescendo and once again, girl, nature and demons were all singing in harmony.

 _Music is cruel. Why does it have to be so beautiful?  
_

Everything suddenly stopped. Unlike yesterday, this time the song abruptly ended, letting only a high-pitched echo resonate in the forest for a few second. Silence reigned again.

 _Yes... Cruel yet beautiful. Music must be a demon._

* * *

Fiore was exhausted and breathed heavily. After offering her usual respectuous bow to her demonic spectators, she let herself fall on the soft mattress of grass. The Devil's Trill Sonata was a nightmare of all musicians. The piece was very demanding - both physically and practically speaking, but oh-so rewarding once it was well mastered. She laughed warmly when her favourite hobgoblin jumped on her to cover her face with its sticky tongue. The green thing was soon joined by all its companions, which were bouncing and screaming like crazy, seemingly overfilled with an indescribable joy. What happened to them? Why were they so ecstatic?

 _\- "_ Did you know, _Fiore_ , that this song aims to please the devils?"

She turned with a jump towards the direction of the voice and gasped at the view.

The green-haired demon from yesterday was standing in front of her, his cerulean eyes glowing as they reflected the gleam of the moon. Both her body and soul froze when she recognized the monster: he was the dangerous and merciless King of Earth she read about in her book.

\- "Amaimon." She said.

They looked at each other straight in the eyes while in their chest, their hearts' crescendo had reached its climax.

* * *

~.~

 **Author's note** : I hope you liked reading this chapter as much as I liked writing it! Thank you everyone for your reviews, it really means a lot! I am glad that you liked Amaimon and the violin scene (which is very complex to put into words, believe me XD) and to reply to the last guest review: your review made my day, thank you so much! No worries, this fanfiction won't be discontinued.


	4. Silence

**Index** _ **:**_

 _ **Rest**_ : an interval of silence in a piece of music, marked by a symbol indicating the length of the pause. Each rest symbol and name corresponds with a particular note value for length, indicating how long the silence should last.

 _ **Tartini**_ : Giuseppe Tartini was the Italian violinist who composed the Devil's Trill Sonata after meeting a demon in his dream. Check out the previous chapter if you've forgotten about him.

 **Chapter IV: Silence**

* * *

 _"Painters paint their pictures on a canvas. Musicians paint theirs on silence."_

 _\- L. Stokowski._

* * *

Fiore's heart was beating so fast that she felt like it was just about to explode.

In fact, both of them did. They had finally met with the face they'd been thinking about for the last two days and this was a shocking experience for both the human and the demon.

Seconds passed in absolute silence, not a single word was spoken. All they did was constantly staring at each other, a staring contest which could have been quite awkward if they weren't overrun by their burning emotions. Amaimon noticed that eventhough their feels were just as intense, the way they expressed it was totally different: while he stayed still and inexpressive as usual, the young woman had a huge of lack of emotional control causing her entire body to tremble like aspen leaves.

In the girl's mind was a strange mixture of delight and fear. She finally got to see the mysterious spectator of her nightly recitals but he happened to be the cruel Demon King her book was telling about. What was he even doing here, on the campus of a private school? Why did he allow her in his forest? And above all: why was she still alive? Did he just appear here and now to kill her?

The green-haired demon walked towards her, bridging the gap -already too short in Fiore's opinion- between them. She wished she could recoil. She wished she could _move_ , but in front of the male's menacing aura, her body stood paralyzed with fear.

That was a real fight between mind and body in which she was physically affected by a fear that her soul couldn't perceive. Anyone wise or at least a bit thoughtful probably would have fled... But these two adjectives were far from suiting this young woman.

\- "This song you played." Amaimon suddenly said. "It aims to please the devils."

His words snapped her back to consciousness.

\- "Oh... the Devil's Trill Sonata? You knew this song?" She asked with a weak, shaky voice.

He slowly shook his head.

\- "All demons know it. I've heard it many time over centuries but..."

The painful sensation in his chest suddenly strengthened at the memory of the girl playing under the moonlight. Fiore swore she saw the demon wince at this exact moment.

\- "When you play, it's different. How do you do that, Fiore?"

The girl seemed confused.

\- "Do what? I did nothing special, just playing like I use to. Anyway, how do you know my name?"

He wanted to tell her about these brand new emotions he had been feeling. Those new sensations he didn't understand. His lust for her music, his lust to watch at _her_... However, he staid silent. No way he would allow her to know about such a shameful weakness. He had to find out the secret of her music and the turmoil she caused him, and he had to do it alone.

He then decided to ignore her question and took a peek at her instrument.

\- "Could this thing be the problem?"

Fiore squeezed her precious violin against her chest, letting the demon know she wasn't eager to share it. This instrument was a gift, a lucky charm she had for years and which followed her in various places around the world. That was the apple of her eyes.

But she should have known that a forbidden thing is always more tempting.

\- "Give it to me." He said.

\- "No."

Amaimon frowned. Did this human just confront his order?

Fiore gasped: she replied too fast and knew it well.

\- "I said **give it to me**."

\- "W-wait! It's very precious to me and... and a musician should never sha..."

Her violin was gone before she could finish her sentence. She did not see a thing happen.

The girl growled upon realising she only had the bow left in her arms while the male was a few meters away, analysing that treasure of hers. How the hell could he be so fast?

\- "Hey!" She roared while rushing at him.

Of course, the demon had too much fun to end this so soon. He meticulously inspected the violin from all angles, running his fingers over the smooth, shiny surface of the wood while avoiding the repeated assaults of the Italian fury who had magically forgotten her distressing anxiety. All his attention was now focused on the strings. Seeing his nails, or rather his _sharp claws_ approaching them, Fiore's heart missed a beat.

\- "No, wait!"

 _'Tic'_

Too late. Barely had he touched them that the tensed strings broke.

Fiore's blood was boiling. Her anger was such that she forgot the demonic nature of the green haired boy.

\- "Damelo, c*zzo!" (Give it back, f*ck!)

Amaimon kept dodging easily, proceeding his analysis. For Fiore, the dream was slowly turning into a nightmare. But what could she expect from a Prince of Hell?

A few seconds later, she managed to grab the demon's jacket, which had dropped his guard. Surprised by this unexpected attack, he crushed the instrument in his hand. Fiore saw her violin break like paper between the demon's fingers.

Both of them remained motionless for a few seconds in absolute silence.

\- "Oh, it exploded. How weird." He said innocently.

\- " **WEIRD?!** You literally crushed it, **you idiot**!"

She tried to grab what was left of the instrument from his hands while actively growling and complaining, a thing he did not appreciate. He held the pieces of wood above his head, out of reach of the pitiful leaps and attempts of the girl.

\- "Give it back!" She hissed, furious.

\- "Silence, female. Give it a **rest**."

With these words, the girl couldn't hold her anger any longer. Fiore is to blame for her fiery temper, her lack of self-control and generally a whole lot of things. That night, she indeed made a monumental mistake by violently smashing the violin bow on the demon king's face.

The thin wooden stick broke in contact with his skull, sending a myriad of bursts crashing all around him. Amaimon froze for a few seconds, eyes wide as Fiore took a step backward upon realizing the stupidity of her act.

The demon's icy glare then settled on her. From that moment, everything happened _very quickly_.

In less than a second and before she could even realize it, Fiore's body was violently pressed against a tree trunk. She felt a strong pressure against her throat, instantaneously blocking the airway and making it impossible to breathe. Airless and terrified, she tried to scream but no sound came out of her mouth. Her legs were no longer touching the grass and were pounding in desperate search for the ground, her hands clutching to the force that held her so. It took her a short while to open her eyes, only to discover two blue irises a few inches away from her face. She realized that the Ba'al was holding at her throat by only one hand. She knew she didn't stand a chance and gave up her struggle, resting her arms alongside her body, defeated and terrified.

Realizing what he was doing to his frail human -and that she incidentally began to run out of air- Amaimon's eyes widened with a slight jolt. He let go of the grip around her neck and took a step back. Fiore slipped against the tree then collapsed on the ground, coughing and gasping, filling her lungs with precious oxygen.

Oh, how much did she wish to leave. How much she regretted coming here tonight.

Amaimon looked like a regular adolescent, however, his strength was supernatural. He was a powerful and impulsive demon with a huge lack of human behaviors. That was the ultimate mix to a dangerous individual and forgetting this fact has been Fiore's biggest mistake.

\- "Mm, sorry." He said, his voice somehow filled with regrets. "I forgot how weak you humans can be."

He held a hand out, offering to help her get up.

 _That very same hand that had almost crushed her throat._

The young musician recoiled and closed her eyes, squealing. A reflex that surprised the demon who then tilted his head, wondering what was wrong with her.

\- "I get it. You're afraid of me, aren't you?"

 _No kidding._

That was an obvious fact. Although she would have preferred to say the opposite, her jerky breathing and the tremors going through her entire body betrayed Fiore. Amaimon remained motionless, paying no attention to her signs of discomfort. After watching the girl in silence, he pouted.

\- "That's a pity. I didn't consider that you would fear me." He sighed. "I swear I mean no harm to you."

 _Said the savage beast who almost killed me a few seconds ago._

She however decided not to keep a grudge against him and make an effort to calm down. After all, he was not human and therefore could not react as such: she would have to deal with it. She took a deep breath and faced the demon's gaze. His icy blue irises made her shiver.

\- "S... Sorry." She stuttered.

Instead of answering, he handed the remains of her precious violin. The sight of the smashed instrument brought tears to her eyes. With a trembling hand, she grabbed the pieces of wood and hugged them tight against her.

\- "I only wanted to take a look." The demon said. "I want you to teach me how to play it."

The girl's eyes widened. She couldn't believe what she heard.

\- "Y-you want me to teach you music...?"

He nodded.

\- "That wordless speech I hear when you play. I want to do the same."

\- "Emm... yes?" She replied, unsure. "Ha.. have you ever played an instrument before...?"

\- "Never."

She sighed deeply.

\- "That sounds pretty difficult then... And that would be long."

She broke the eye contact, worried of his reaction. Against all odds, he didn't mind her words.

\- "I'm immortal, time is not a problem. Also, I'm not leaving you the choice."

Fiore froze again. The image of their altercation and the pain on her throat were still too fresh in her mind. She fled his eyes once more.

There is nothing you could refuse to a demon.

\- "Alright..." She said, her voice filled with fear while tears were running on her face.

The male's expression remained blank, but inside the demon was truly worried about her being hurt. Barely had he approached this strange and fascinating musician that he had already made her cry.

A painful sensation was burning inside his chest again, making him clench his fists.

Amaimon despised humans. He had always found them weak and meaningless, useless piles of flesh that had to be crushed like mere insects. To be feared of Humanity, corrupt their souls and fight them had always been the vocation of every Gehennian creature, the logical lifecycle between their two species but this time, with this girl, he had no desire for such things. She was different from everything he had seen before: a human who preferred the company of demons to that of her own kind.

For once, he was determined to take care of his toy and did not want her to see him as a monster.

He _had to_ gain her trust.

* * *

\- "Your name means 'flower', right?"

The young human shot him a surprised look. Her face was soaked with tears, which she hastened to wipe.

\- "Yes..." She said, trying her best to hold her tears. "Why?"

He ignored that and asked again:

\- "Brother says all women love flowers. Is that true?"

She looked even more surprised and frowned. What was with him?

\- "Eeeh... I... I don't know if we all love flowers but at least, I do."

\- "I see."

Fiore wanted to know more about this sudden floral interest but he didn't let her the chance to ask.

\- " _Silence_." He said.

.

The demon didn't move for several seconds, staring at the forest clearing laying in front of them. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers and moved his forefinger up and down, a delicate gesture which caught Fiore's interest. Sceptical at first, she quickly changed her mind while seeing the dreamlike scenery happening just in front of her: dozens of green sprouts were slowly growing out of the ground in a synchronized and unreal dance. Fiore rubbed her eyes a few times to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

The sprouts gracefully grew a bud at their extremity; then slowly unfolded to give birth to beautiful flowers glowing with a bluish shade.

 _That's it. I must be dreaming._

The clearing was now covered with dozens, if not hundreds of blue flowers softly embraced by the shy rays of moonlight. Fiore's eyes were drawn to one of them, hidden on the side. It was the only one out of all its kind to wear white petals.

Amaimon went to pick said flower and gave it to the young woman who shyly took it from his hand.

She did not thank him. To be honest, she had no words after witnessing such a view. She knew demons were creatures gifted with supernatural powers but here, in her eyes, this was pure magic.

\- "That's... that's beautiful..." She said. "How did you do that?"

\- "Flowers are living things just like you and me. They have a soul and will obey to anyone worthy to hear their voices. Anyone who bears a relation to Earth can do that."

Fiore staid silent. Her eyes and mind were lost in the colorful immensity that the devil had grown. She felt moved and appeased. A smile grew on her lips without her even realizing it. That was all the demon was waiting for.

\- "How do you feel now? Still afraid of me?"

That snapped her out of her thoughts. Was that his goal from the beginning? The reason of his questions and delicate attention?

Fiore couldn't hold a light laugh.

\- "Humans can't control fear, you know. It's an unpleasant and strong emotion that we cannot get rid of so easily. However, there are ways to reduce it and I must admit that you did help a lot."

\- "Then it's good. Brother was right once again."

\- "Do you use to seek flirting advice from your brother, hm~?" She asked teasingly.

\- "Brother knows everything about humans. He says females are vulnerable beings and easily manipulated with a few flowers and sweet words."

 _Wow. Savage roasting. But at least he's honest._

The Ba'al's expression still remained blank. If he had been human she would have probably slapped him, but well: Amaimon did not realize how abject his words could be... Furthermore, she didn't want to witness his power once again.

 _His brother must be a real assh*le though._

Her thoughts led her to an important realization.

\- "Amaimon, you have a brother?"

\- "Do you even open your school manuals? We are 8 Kings of Gehenna."

\- "Does that mean... that your brothers are demons too?"

\- "... isn't that obvious?"

She blushed at her own stupidity. Fortunately, the demon did not care for this kind of detail.

They spent a moment in total silence. She played with the white flower between her fingers while he stared at the slightest of her movements. He noticed, his eyes somewhat filled with worry, that the mark of his grip had turned blue on Fiore's throat. However, he thought it best not to mention the topic, not wishing to scare her any more. This human was his new toy and above all, he _wanted_ her presence. He would do anything in order for her to trust him and teach him her music.

\- "It's late. You should head back to your dorm." He said.

She nodded and made her way over to the tree she left her belongings on. She picked up her empty violin case and a pack of biscuits.

\- "Here, take this. That's for... you know... Thank you for allowing me into your forest." She said, holding the sweets.

She didn't have to say it twice. The demon brutally took it from her shaky hands before giving her a large and satisfied smile.

\- "Aaah! I require one pack per day, that's my condition."

She laughed as she watched the demon stuffing his mouth with handfuls of cookies. Amaimon, the Seventh Ba'al, the mighty King of Earth, happened to be a rude and brutal child with a weird addiction to sugar. This view made her smile.

\- "When I think books describe you as a bloodthirsty killer... In fact you're not that evil, for a demon."

\- "And you make way too much noise for such a small thing."

His response was very spontaneous and harsh.

 _Yes. A very rude child._

After all, he was a demon. She couldn't blame the male for simply being himself.

She gave a last smile before turning away and head back to her dorm, still holding the white flower between her fingers. As she was walking away, she heard Amaimon say:

\- "Not so fast. You're supposed to teach me how to play music. Brother says his Academy's music room is all ours to use, so make sure to be there tomorrow at sunset. You better not be late."

\- "Alright I'll be ther..."

 _Oh wait._

 _His brother. True-Cross Academy. Pheles. Pheles' Academy. His brother._

 _Don't tell me..._

\- "Mephisto is a demon king?!" She roared.

But there was no one left when she turned around. She was all alone in the heavy silence of the forest.

* * *

She opened her eyes in the late afternoon after a very agitated and stressful night, torn between the images of her eventful night, her encounter with the demon and a sharp pain located all over her throat. Fiore blamed herself for having slept so much before taking a cold shower, taking advantage of the absence of other students in the dormitory's bathroom. While inspecting her reflection on the large mirrors, she gasped with horror at the view of dark marks left by Amaimon's fingers on her throat and yet she wondered how she would manage to hide it from other students and teachers she was supposed to meet on Monday.

" _I'm not leaving you the choice_ "

She heard the demon's cold voice replay in whispers, swirling all around her like a predator would surround its prey. Then, eventually, that predator would pounce and break the prey's neck in a swift yet cruel move.

 _I don't want to end up as a prey..._

She hastily rushed back to her room as the images of Amaimon were playing along his words. His sudden appearance, the broken violin, the aggression and finally the forest clearing covered with flowers... She couldn't stop thinking about it.

Somehow, she still couldn't believe the forest monster happened to be the demon King of Earth, a powerful and ancestral devil who's been roaming Hell and Earth since the beginning of the History we know... This single thought made her shiver. He said he meant no harm to her and even gifted her flowers, but despite his touching attempts to soothe her terror, some fragments still remained and would probably remain for as long as she would not be sure about the demon's true intentions. There were so many questions she wanted to ask him: what was he doing here in Japan? Why did he want to learn music? Why did _she_ have to be the one teaching him? And for God's sake: what was a Demon King doing on a rich kids' school campus?

 _Oh that's right, Pheles._

Amaimon clearly said this school belonged to his brother, which implies that Pheles was one of the eight Ba'als. The girl wanted to clarify her thoughts and picked her Illustrated Guide to Demons.

She opened the book on its summary and started browsing the pages as she couldn't see his name anywhere. He presumably was a king so she decided to check on the last pages of each category.

\- "Kin of Lucifer, Demons of Light, nope..." She said while looking at the First Ba'al.

 _That being said, he really looks good._

She turned the page until the next category.

\- "Kin Samael, Demons of Time..."

She froze at the sight of his portrait.

There was no doubt about it: Mephisto Pheles was indeed a Ba'al. On the picture, this idiot posed in his classical clown outfit which made the girl cringe. Upset, Fiore read his description aloud:

\- "Second strongest Ba'al. Personnage of authority in Gehenna who bears the title of King of Time. He is the leader of all demons who bear a relation to Time. Having lived in Assiah for centuries and pledged allegiance to the Vatican, Samael lives among humans and became a respected figure in the ranks of exorcism..."

 _Wow. King of Time? SECOND Ba'al?_

That meant Pheles was way more powerful than Amaimon. Having already witnessed a bit of the green-haired demon's powers, she couldn't imagine what was his older brother really capable of. How could the Vatican leave such a monster at the head of a human school?

More and more questions were jolting in the chaos of her thoughts. She decided to put her discovery aside and went back to the pages dedicated to Amaimon.

Reading his description again made her shiver.

Dangerous.

Violent.

Has killed many humans.

Was he really the same demon she met yesterday?

Her gaze wandered on the white flower lying on the bed's corner. Why would this demon who was known to take lives, offer flowers to her? All this for a bit of music? It didn't make sense.

She was brutally drawn out of her thoughts by the ringing of her cellphone. Throwing herself on the annoying device, she discovered a message from an unknown number. It happened to be Yukio who was inviting her to join in his class, willing to check on her progress.

Fiore winced: she hadn't started her study yet. She politely declined his invitation, pretexting she was overwhelmed by her study then the girl started preparing for her private lesson.

\- "I smashed a violin bow on a Demon King's face... and now I have to teach him how to play that same instrument."

* * *

Fiore being Fiore, she fell asleep on her desk instead of getting ready. The night has arrived already when the girl woke up. She jumped out of bed and hurried up upon realizing she was late _again_.

Once carefully dressed and her hair combed, she decided to use the only suitable thing she had in her lugage to hide the bruise on her neck: a scarf. She then left for the music room without using Mephisto's keys, willing to get some fresh air and change her mind before meeting Amaimon.

However, she couldn't predict that a certain young exorcist would be waiting for her in front of her dorm.

\- "Good evening Miss Veracini. Overwhelmed by your studies, as I can see."

The girl froze: Yukio was standing there, offering her a small satisfied smile.

 _Oh crap._

He decided to show up at the worst possible time.

\- "Oh, well... Good evening! Indeed I did say 'study' but I didn't precise of what kind."

\- "Interesting. So you were just about to study...?"

\- "Music, of course! I need daily practise and I take my musical training very seriously, you know."

\- "Of course, I see. But then, where is your violin?"

 _... Good point._

\- "Well... I wanted to try another one and there are plenty in the music class. Anyway that's exactly where I'm heading. See you later, Yukio!"

She hurried towards the main building, already regretting that she hadn't used her key.

\- "Fiore, wait!" He shouted. "Can I join? I still haven't gotten the chance to hear you playing."

She would have been delighted in normal times, however, she didn't want him to discover her secret. Telling an exorcist about her private lessons with a Demon King wasn't the brightest of ideas. Even worse, how would Amaimon react when he would see her coming with another human? Fiore wasn't an expert in demonic behavior but at least she knew well enough to know for sure that the King of Earth would highly dislike it.

\- "Sorry but I want to stay alone tonight! Maybe next time~" She lied without giving a look at the boy, letting him alone in the darkness of the night.

The young exorcist remained on the spot, doubtful and somewhat worried. He was far from stupid and didn't believe a single word she said. Her stressed look, her absurd excuse, the scarf she wore in such a mild weather... Fiore definitely hid something and moreover, she wasn't a good liar.

Yukio left for his own dormitory, swearing to keep an eye on the new transfert student. That was only a matter of time before finding out what she was hiding.

* * *

Fiore didn't expect demons to be punctual, but for once she hoped her demonic student would be late as well.

That obviously wasn't the case.

When she arrived in the big music class, the demon was already there waiting for her, sitting on top of a closet. He pointed out to her angrily, blaming the girl for being late, to which she replied that an unfortunate inconvenience stepped in her way. Amaimon noticed that the girl looked... different. Fiore looked radious and wore a neat outfit which exalted a professional look. She reminded him of the academy teachers he regularly observed. It seemed she had put aside her wild manners, proof that she took the taskof teaching him very seriously.

After several minutes of silence during which the demon couldn't stop staring at Fiore, she gathered some books and prepared a few notes. She then invited him to sit down and listen to her.

\- "Good, are you ready for your first lesson?" She asked.

\- "I'm bored already. And what about those books?"

\- "Solfeggio books. Music theory, if you prefer. It's essential to study this part before learning how to play an instrument."

Amaimon frowned.

\- "Huh? I didn't ask you to teach me theory but practice."

\- "As for now, I'm afraid there is nothing you can do with a violin except maybe breaking it."

Her voice was tinged with reproach and a hint of rancor. Amaimon groaned.

\- "You don't learn anything from your past mistakes, do you? I said **no** theory."

She knew it well. Very well. But for this professional musician, hearing someone demand practice without knowing about basic theory was absurd and absolutely inconceivable... yet she had no choice but to accept his request, not eager to encourage violence of any kind from the demon.

She then went to the large vitrines and picked two violins out of the impressive collection. She handed one to the demon with a sigh.

\- "Alright, you asked for it. You better not complain and please, try not to break this one."

.

The following two hours were extremely difficult to bear for the girl's mental as well as her ears. Although he made an effort not to damage the instrument, Amaimon didn't stop complaining throughout the lesson, repeatedly trying to reproduce Fiore's sounds and movements. All his efforts were however in vain and the girl felt sorry for the poor violin which screamed in pain under the demon's hands. He pressed too hard on both the bow and the strings, only getting a coarse and deformed sound upon each attempt.

Despite the musician's fastidious explanations to instil him the sensitivity and lightness of her gestures, the green-haired male remained incapable of recreating the slightest of them.

Fiore came to the simple conclusion that Amaimon did not understand what she was exactly asking. After all, sensitivity may not have been part of a demon's vocabulary.

The Ba'al eventually gave up.

\- "What is this witchcraf?" He grumbled, putting the violin on a table.

\- "You didn't even want to learn the basics and yet you expected to succeed?" She hissed while giving him an irritated glare.

\- "That's just too difficult."

\- "Of course it is, since you're skipping steps!"

Realizing that her irritation would only make things worse, she sighed and went to lean against the windowsill, preferring to look at the nightly sky rather than her demonic student. Amaimon was definitely giving up too fast and, above all, he was stubborn. _Very stubborn_.

How could she explain such a subtle art to this brutal demon? A brutal demon who could yet grow flowers so delicately... This example alone demonstrated that Amaimon could be astonishingly sensitive and patient once he found a meaning, a reason, to what he had to do.

The two remained silent, their backs turned while she was thinking about last night's scene in the forest. Her cheeks turned red without her noticing.

After a moment of heavy silence, Fiore suddenly spoke:

\- "Playing music is just like growing a flower you know?"

His head tilted in slight curiosity as he turned to look at the girl. Her sudden phrase seemed like an absolute nonsense to him. How could she even compare such different things?

\- "Tell me Amaimon, what are the basic things a gardener needs to grow a plant?" She asked.

\- "Mmm... A seed, soil and water. What's the link with playing music?"

She gave him a warm smile and held her instrument out to him. He took it without arguing.

\- "The link? It only exists if you imagine it. Look. The seed is your instrument and the soil in which you bury it is the silence which us, musicians, need to carve our sounds."

He blinked, looking at the girl like a confused child in a class of quantum physics. Fiore definitely had a special way of teaching.

\- "But how about water? A seed can't grow all by itself." He asked.

Fiore tried in vain to hide the smile that urged her lips.

\- "Correct, and your violin can't play all by itself neither. So what do you think is still missing?"

He rolled his eyes, momentarily lost in thoughts.

\- "The musician?"

Fiore nodded.

\- "You see, if only one of these elements is missing, nothing will grow out of the silence. But when they're all together..."

She gently grabbed Amaimon's hand after a brief moment of hesitation, leading the bow along the strings with a light movement. Louder and louder, higher and higher in keys. A delicate crescendo filled the room.

\- "... silence blooms into music." She whispered.

.

They stood still for a while, and the two of them looked at each other without a word. Strangely, his face wasn't bored and emotionless as usual. There was a spark in the demon's eyes, a glimse of fascination which Fiore almost immediately noticed. The girl blushed and turned away, suddenly breaking their eye contact. Her heart was racing, though she couldn't tell why.

\- "Which kind of soil do you need to bloom this or that flower? On which tempo do you need to play this or that song? These are things that need to be learnt. In the end, flowers and music are pretty similar: all you need is sensitivity, knowledge and..."

\- "And patience." Amaimon added.

Still facing the nightly scenery by the window, Fiore smiled. He had finally understood.

He joined her near the window and stood by her side, holding out the theory book.

\- "Then teach me how to make music bloom."

Taking the book out of the demon's hands, she smiled.

\- "In exchange, would you teach me how to make nature sing?"

She was talking about last night. That was the first time Amaimon ever heard a human asking him a favor. The first time a human deliberately asked for a deal with the devil he was.

This human was decidedly special. He would not let her go.

\- "Deal." He said.

They looked at each other in silence with the only light of the moon to enlighten their faces.

It seemed unreal yet familiar at the same time: just like her ancestor did a few centuries ago, Fiore made a deal with a demon to teach him music. She couldn't hold her laughter when she realized this fact: was History just about to repeat once again?

\- "Tartini and his demon composed the Devil's Trill Sonata. But how about us? Which sonata are we gonna compose?"

The Ba'al glared curiously at her, tilting his head.

\- "Oh, forget about that." She said. "Get your violin ready, dear student, let's see if we can have fun while learning."

He grinned and rushed at the instrument. He seemed as happy as a child being gifted his favourite candy.

A short second later, a loud sound rang throughout the room. Fiore turned on her heels, only to discover the demon holding in his hands the remains of the poor violin he was supposed to care for.

\- "Fiore, look... it exploded again." He said, obviously surprised.

Was she supposed to laugh or cry at this image? She wasn't sure but she decided to laugh whatsoever.

Amaimon was a brutal, violent and clumsy demon, the nightmare of Vatican. Pure poison for exorcists... but his childish and innocent side would never fail to put a smile on the young girl's lips.

She picked up the pieces on the ground and sneered :

\- " ... I think a more solid instrument would suit you best."

She looked at the display of large instruments that sat on the room's grandstand and suddenly had an idea she would never regret.

\- "Hey, Amaimon... Ever heard about piano?"

* * *

.

Author's note: Wow! We almost hit 1000 views and the number of favs/follows doubled since last time, thank you so much! Also, I am really sorry for the long wait but I've been away for a while. I'll be able to come back to my daily writing from now on~ I hope you enjoyed this long chapter, keep reviewing and let me know what you think about this story, this really makes my day and gives me the motivation to keep writing!

See you next time for the Chapter 5: Etude.


	5. Étude

**Index:**

 _ **Étude**_ : An étude is a rather short and difficult classical composition designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular musical skill. It is also the French word for "study".

 _ **Absolute pitch**_ : Absolute pitch, also known as 'perfect pitch', is a rare auditory phenomenon characterized by the ability of a person to identify and reproduce the musical notes of anything they hear.

 _ **Mephisto-Waltz**_ : Yes, it does exist. For real. The Mephisto-Waltzen are a set of 4 difficult musical compositions inspired by the legend of **Faust**. The first one is the more famous and is often played in piano competitions to display a player's skills.

 _ **Faust**_ : Character of a German folk tale contracting a pact with a demon named Mephistopheles, which gives him a second life turned this time on forbidden pleasures, at the price of his soul.

 **Chapter V:** ** _Étude_**

* * *

 _"Music is the kingdom of demons"_

 _Thomas Mann_

* * *

« One night, I dreamed I had made a pact with a demon for my soul. Everything went as I wished: my new servant anticipated my every desire. Among other things, I gave him my violin to see if he could play. How great was my astonishment on hearing a sonata so wonderful and so beautifully played, with such great art and intelligence, as I had never even conceived in my boldest flights of fantasy. I felt enraptured, transported, enchanted: my breath failed me, and I awoke. I immediately grasped my violin in order to retain, in part at least, the impression of my dream. In vain! The music which I at this time composed is indeed the best that I ever wrote, and I still call it the "Devil's Trill Sonata", but the difference between it and the one which so moved me is so great that I would have destroyed my instrument and have said farewell to music forever if it had been possible for me to live without the enjoyment it affords me. »

\- Giuseppe Tartini, 1713.

.

Sitting on the floor of the music room, the girl wouldn't stop reading this passage. She had read and re-read it over and over again, carefully studying every phrase, every single word in search of a hint that she would not have noticed before.

 _Is that really all you have to tell? Who was this demon?_

But Tartini stayed as silent and selfish as ever, refusing to reveal his old secrets. This was a stream of questions that no one could answer, a truth that was hard to accept for Fiore. She tried to put away this discouraging, confusing feeling of disappointment and sighed deeply.

 _Why can't I help but wonder how did your story end?_

Two weeks had already passed since that night, when the girl and the demon had made their deal: she would teach him the secrets of music while he would teach her the ones of nature.

These mortal enemies, those beings who were poles apart had challenged their own species by choosing to ally rather than destroy each other. Both were aware of the risks they faced if True-Cross' exorcists knew about their odd relation; so had they decreed to meet at sunset only, far from danger, judgments and prying eyes.

If her ancestors could talk, they would surely blame the young Italian for her frightful naivety, for the oddity of making a deal with an evil spirit of Gehenna. Hadn't she read enough on the subject to know that was a huge mistake? Could she really trust a demon, and more precisely one of Gehenna's Eight Kings? She was unsure about the outcomes of such an alliance but still chose to trust the green-haired demon. After all, she wasn't the first human in History to take that risk and some even lived long enough to tell the tale, hence her sudden interest for old historical books. What was she precisely looking for?

Answers to some questions in order to explain this bond which was slowly growing between her and the Demon King? Or maybe a simple mean to allay her fears?

Probably both reasons. But still, what she afraid about? After all, wasn't it all about a few flowers and music notes?

.

\- "Fiore? Drop your book, I **hate** being ignored."

The masculine voice drew the girl out of her thoughts. She lifted her head up to the source of the noise, only to come nose-to-nose with a certain green-haired creature. Their faces were so close, she could feel his breath on her cheeks and the smell of sugar tickling her nostrils. She hurried to put her book on the ground then gently pushed the intruder back to an acceptable distance.

\- "Amaimon! What did I say about my personal space?"

Her voice, although severe, revealed a slight hint of weariness. The King of Earth pondered during a short moment. Or at least, pretented to.

Personal spaces, comfort zones and distances between opposing sexes were all human concepts escaping his logic. From the few Amaimon knew about it, he was fairly sure that closeness between a male and a female was one of the most natural things on Earth and yet, Fiore wouldn't allow him to come too close and wouldn't neither miss an occasion to lecture him about his 'bad habits'.

That was, as she said, "the strict rules of etiquette and social convention".

 _How boring._

It wasn't like he was going to pounce on her -his brother had forbidden him to do so- but strangely, and without him being able to explain it, Fiore's closeness had become a necessity to which it was more and more complicated to resist.

\- "Ah. It is stricly forbidden to come too close to you without having been invited." He eventually replied.

\- "Correct. Then why do you keep doing so?"

\- "Precisely because it's forbidden, dummy. Plus, it's funny to see you blush."

A slight growl echoed through the music class.

\- "I do NOT blush!" She scolded. "Stop wasting my time and go back to your étude! Please resume the piece here, just after the crescendo part."

After a quick glance at the exact passage on the score, the demon went to sit at the majestic grand piano which reigned over the class. A hobgoblin quickly joined him and pounced on top of the instrument. This round-shaped creature was Behemoth, Amaimon's familiar. The small demon had developped a habit of sitting above the keyboard in order to turn the score's pages to his master's signal: a funny behavior which Fiore described as "cute as hell", which she probably wouldn't say if she knew how Gehenna actually looked like. However, the girl's infatuation for the goblin didn't escape the green-haired demon's notice. All he could do was looking at the auburn-haired human cuddling his familiar with a slight expression of envy, or maybe, jealousy.

But then, again, telling her about his feelings was absolutely out of the question.

\- "Ready?"

He nodded.

Fiore closed her eyes and focused on the sublime melody which began to fill the room.

 _Chopin, Étude Op. 10, No. 12: "Revolutionary Étude"_

* * *

Not only once had she regretted suggesting him to play the piano. Put apart the fact that a few kilograms of biscuits had been necessary to motivate him to study music theory, the practical aspect had awakened in Amaimon something unsuspected: the demon was skilled. Or better still, he was truly gifted. His talent, which was beyond comprehension, urged the young violinist to call him a prodigy in only two weeks of time. From the first few hours of practise, the demon had shown no trouble dissociating the movements of his two hands and controlled the intensity of his fingers way better on the sturdy piano keys than on a violin' strings.

But what Fiore admired above all was Amaimon's incredible ability to recognize and reproduce notes by simply listening to a tune, no matter how difficult it was. That, for sure, was a demonic absolute pitch.

His auditive memory and the dexterity of his gestures coupled with Fiore's modest knowledge about keyboard instruments turned Amaimon into a real **monster**. Not the kind of monster whose demonology books described, but rather a creature whose hands, instead of destroying, grew music and nature magically: the hands of the Seventh Ba'al were golden.

Fiore, for her part, had begun exorcism classes under Yukio's strict but effective tutelage. The first few days were quite trying between the classes themselves, the new classmates and that annoying language barrier that prevented the young Italian from thriving as she would have liked. On a more positive note, she had met Rin, Yukio's twin brother and Shiemi, a shy and somewhat clumsy girl who shared her passion for plants and nature. Despite their usual simplistic -yet pleasant- conversations during which each one tried to speak the other's language, Fiore cherished the time she got to spend with them. The only downside in this fragile harmony was the invasive and suspicious behavior of Yukio, who was constantly watching and following her as soon as the opportunity arose, causing the musician to believe that maybe, the young exorcist knew something he wasn't supposed to. Did he find out about her nightly meetings with Amaimon? After all, this all began on that evening when he caught her out of the dormitory.

But the girl wasn't the kind to worry for such a small detail. At least, not in this exact moment.

She only had eyes -or ears- for this étude of his.

.

 _It's played to perfection._

His playing, a mix of energy and smooth movements, did not allow a single wrong note to slip into. What a delicacy to spread wide across the room, which were entirely theirs to use. This simple class had quickly become their secret garden, a place where human and demon could grow sounds out of silence.

Fiore watched her copy of the score, silently reading the notes along the demon's rythm. She couldn't hear a single mistake.

 _However, one would think to listen to a machine. He just plays the piece as he reads it.  
_

She then left the booklet and watched as the demon's fingers frantically hit the black and white keys of the instrument. Amaimon's playing was technically perfect and would probably have pleased the judges of all music competitions since this kind of event, as a mean to prove pure skills, required musicians to follow strictly the score. That was the exact definition of what Amaimon was doing: a representation to the letter.

However, Fiore wasn't a judge. The fallen violin prodigy loved music not for its technical aspect and the fame of competitions, but for that language of emotions which only her violin allowed her to speak... And obviously, here, something was missing.

 _Can't you feel your emotions rushing through your chest when you play?_

Amaimon's expression was as aloof as usual.

He always wore that same neutral and monotonous face which only seemed to disappear upon Fiore's playing or also at the view of the sweets she used to give him. The girl got up and discreetly approached her demonic student, silently tiptoeing, not eager to distract him and possibly break that music of his.

 _Is your heart as empty as you let it appear?_

Although she was out of his sight, the demon felt her warm presence getting closer and closer behind him. She gently posed a hand on his shoulder.

And Amaimon suddenly missed a note.

Still playing, he somehow managed to look around, hastily turning his head on one side then another in search of the female's view. Amused, Fiore caught his head between her hands and pushed gently, forcing his eyes in the score's direction. The demon kept playing with a barely audible delay between his two hands: his left hand lagging behind, a thing that seemed to happen when the demon couldn't focus correctly. Of course, this flaw did not escape his young teacher's notice.

A faint, unnoticed smile grew in the corner of her lips.

 _Of course not. One cannot escape emotions, not even you, demon_. _After all, music is the language of the soul. It can reach out to any living thing, no matter who they are and where they come from._

Chopin's étude was coming to its end and Amaimon pressed his finger harder on the monochrome keys, forcing the last notes to ring as loud as possible.

 _You see. Assiah or Gehenna, it does not matter._

 _We all are souls, aren't we?_

 _._

The echo vanished after a few seconds, then Amaimon jumped away from the bench to face the young Italian's cheeky grin, an obvious evidence of her malicious intent.

\- "Oh? What did I hear near the end of the piece? Could that be a _wrong note_?~" She teased.

\- "You touched me. And I can't touch you. That's unfair."

\- "Oh, is that so? A true musician would not get distracted so easily."

\- "I don't even aim to become one. I only want to play with you."

She sighed sharply and nervously gestured, as if she was bringing up a sensitive topic.

\- "You're... Well... not ready to perform a duet yet."

Amaimon rolled his eyes and growled under Fiore's concerned glance, unable to hold his frustration any longer.

Since she had taught him about the different musical styles and shown examples of piano-violin duet, the demon had expressed a keen desire to play such a performance. Rushed by his demonic nature, this desire had quickly turned into lust, which urged him to hound his poor human target every single day with the same boring question:

\- "Then, when?"

Which inevitably lead to the same boring answer:

\- "I don't know. It depends on you."

She had always plately rejected his request. During those two last weeks, Fiore had focused on her teaching duties to the point of neglecting her own instrument... to Amaimon's sorrow. Despite the girl saying she didn't have time to play violin anymore, the male suspected the loss of her precious old instrument to be the main cause. Oh, how much had he regretted to break it. The demon's only occasion to hear her playing on the music room's instruments were now reduced to a few short seconds from time to time, in the attempt to let him hear how some notes on a score sounded like, for example. In some lucky moments, she would also use a violin to set the tempo when the demon expressed some trouble in adjusting his own pace.

Needless to say, the Earth King wasn't particulary thrilled about that and above all, he didn't understand the reason behind's Fiore rejection.

He then decided to train harder, devoting his previously video games-filled free time to piano practise. The green-haired demon aimed to reach a level of perfection which she could not deny anymore, so she would have no other choice but aknowledge his talent and eventually accept the long awaited duet.

One should agree that, for once, Amaimon's plan was perfect.

Perfect, but **pointless**.

Indeed, Fiore's reasons for such a rejection were in fact totally different.

Playing a duet wasn't just about sharing the same score; it was above all about sharing the same emotions and uniting them in one and only harmony, a wordless dialogue between two hearts.

Those emotions, which Amaimon still refused to voice through his music, although burning deep inside him.

.

\- "Well." She said while petting Behemoth on top of the grand piano. "Start over."

\- "Don't wanna. Revolutionary Etude is boring, I want something new." He replied before taking another lolipop out of his pocket.

Fiore observed the devil who greedily gnawed on his sugar-filled treasure, then sighed. The room now smelled like strawberries.

 _You stupid kid._

\- "Very well then, let's pick another. Have you worked on the list I gave you two days ago?"

\- "Finis'ed" He mumbled, his tongue being too busy with the lolipop to speak correctly.

Fiore frowned.

\- "What did you say, finished? You mean you've already finished reading through all the scores?"

\- "Nope, I've practised and mastered them all."

\- "..."

The girl refused to believe what she had just heard. She was used to Amaimon's jokes but this one was simply not funny. At all.

\- "Liars will go to Hell, you know?"

\- "Huh? You think I'm lying?" He asked, tilting his head. "By the way, I was born in Hell."

\- "Amaimon! The pieces I gave you are complicated études which even the most talented students struggle with! I admit that you have a, let's say, inhuman talent but please consider that some people take months to master one of those. How could you possibly learn five of them in such a short time?"

\- "I was bored. They weren't that difficult, anyway."

The girl's expression was flooded by shock and incomprehension. As easy as it was to confuse Fiore whenever he felt like teasing her, it was now equally difficult for him to get what could disrupt her so much. Piano was all about a sequence of keys to reproduce on a rythm, yet humans had to practise for months before they were able to play one? Were people of Assiah _that_ much retarded?

Also, how about Fiore? The girl who could make her violin sing so beautifully, so fluently... Wasn't it easy and natural for her?

After much pondering, Amaimon was drawn back to reality by the girl's voice.

\- "I'll find something more complex to match your level." She said blankly. "Meanwhile, please work on your damn left hand, it fails you too often. Try étude number 10, that's a good practise material."

\- "Etude 10... Lindt's one?"

\- "... That's a chocolate brand, Amaimon. Liszt's one, please."

\- "Huh, same."

.

As soon as the demon started playing, Fiore walked over to the bookshelves, half listening and half pondering about what his next piece would be.

The impressive collection of scores never failed to make her eyes sparkle with envy and, in addition to having a valuable choice of score to occupy her demonic student, these shelves were also a true wealth of information on everything related to music History, a fact she had to admit despite her frustrated, unsuccessful attempts to find answers to the flow of questions which haunted her thoughts.

Her gaze suddenly stopped on a booklet meticulously hidden among many others. Forgetting Amaimon for a few seconds, she gently took it.

What she found was, at the least, surprising.

\- "Mephisto-Waltz...?" She read aloud.

After a quick glance to Amaimon's direction to make sure the demon wasn't looking, Fiore discreetly opened the booklet. Aside from the music score she expected to see, there was a short written note which, as it was often the case in old printed scores, explained this piece's background.

« There is a wedding feast in progress in the village, with music, dancing, carousing. Mephistopheles and Faust pass by, and the demon induces Faust to enter and take part in the festivities. Mephistopheles snatches a violin from the hands of a lethargic musician and draws from it indescribably seductive and intoxicating strains. The amorous Faust whirls around with a full-blooded village beauty in a wild dance; they waltz in mad abandon out of the room, into the village, then away into the woods. The sounds of the violin grow softer and softer, and the nightingale warbles his love-laden song. Named the Mephisto-Waltz, this classical piece marked for the second time in History a musical alliance between humans and demons. »

It took her a few seconds to recover from what she had just read. The girl then rushed towards Tartini's book to check on some dates, which, to her greatest delight, perfectly matched with her latest discovery.

\- "But that means..."

Fiore had found herself so completely absorbed by that specific thought, that she didn't notice the heavy, uneasy silence which plagued across the music room.

Amaimon wasn't playing anymore.

When she turned over to look at him, the demon and his familiar were standing next to the grand piano. They both seemed alert and anxious, the pointy ears moving around, probably trying to catch a sound or a presence that only the two of them seemed to perceive.

\- "Amaimon?" She asked softly.

But he wouldn't reply, nor give her a glance. Instead, the demon did something unexpected. The poor girl didn't get the chance to react that he pounced in her direction, catching her in his arms at such a speed that the human had hardly enough time to discern his quick and swift movements. That's how the two of them -accompanied by Behemoth- ended up locked in the darkness of the nearest hideaway: a wooden storage cabinet.

\- " **WHAT THE HELL**..."

He didn't let her finish her curse and covered her mouth with one hand, while keeping her frail body firmly hugged against his chest without the slightest explanation, leaving the female in utter panic. She tried in vain to free herself from Amaimon's stifling embrace, who tightened his grip as the girl kept struggling, until a sound reached her ears and made her freeze: footsteps.

Footsteps echoed in the hallway along the classroom.

Now frozen in fear, Fiore glared at the demon whose head was stuck to hers. She was not in a position to complain about this sudden proximity, which, to be honest, was more reassuring than it was embarrassing at this particular time.

But Amaimon didn't glance back at her. All of his attention was drawn to their mysterious visitor who slowly approached the classroom.

Of course, he knew who he was. He had known as soon as this person had entered the building. However, the demon did not expect him to pay them a surprise visit.

That wasn't good.

The intruder slowly opened the door, causing it to horribly creak during the whole process. He was there, a few meters away from their hidding place.

Amaimon could feel Fiore's heart beat so fast that he even hoped the poor thing wouldn't pass out. In an attempt to reassure her, -and secretly taking advantage of this opportunity, though he would never admit it- he gently caressed her hair, just like one would pet the head of a scared puppy. After all, there was no place for fear and panic in this kind of tense situations.

.

\- "Fiore?"

Said girl's eyes widened as a young and masculine voice broke the silence.

 _Yukio?_

 _-_ "Are you there?"

 _What is he doing here?_

Did he know she had left her room again? She was aware that the young professor kept an eye on her since that night, when he caught her out of her dorm in the late evening and both her and the green-haired demon knew that was only a matter of time before he would come here, but still, as usual, Yukio had appeared at the worst possible time.

In the narrowness of the cabinet which kept them hidden, only a thin ray of light managed to pierce through the doors gap. They wouldn't take the risk to close it, though, since the slightess move would surely betray their presence. This gap, however, offered to the duet a view of the piano and its surroundings and in no time, the silhouette of the young exorcist appeared near the instrument. Yukio was moving slowly, observing the monochrome keys as he passed by, carefully studying all the elements around him and holding in his hands two black _pistols_.

Fiore couldn't retain a gasp at this sight.

Almost immediately, the exorcist turned towards the closet, pointing the two weapons toward it.

 _Well done, Fiore._

The panicked girl began to shake while the demon winced, burdened by the lack of control the girl had over her own body. He then pondered. He knew the fewest audible sound would mean the end of the game, but the sore loser he was couldn't accept the fun to end that soon.

Fiore heard the demon mutter a barely audible whisper in a language she had never heard before and assumed those words -if she could even call them words- were adressed to Behemoth. The hobgoblin, who had stayed still and silent this whole time, was now intently listening to his master. The familiar nodded then took place in front of the doors gap, seemingly ready to pounce on whoever would dare opening it.

The next few seconds seemed like hours. Both the tension and Fiore's heartbeat were at their highest point when Yukio's hand reached for the doorknob.

But as soon as the boy started pulling it, Behemoth erupted out of the wooden cabinet and pounced straight to his face without giving the slightest occasion to shoot, causing Yukio's body to bruptally fall on the floor. Before he could even realize what just happened, the small demon seized his glasses and crushed them between its claws.

Caught off guard and deprived of decent eyesight, the exorcist stood up and started staggering around in a desperate attempt to lay his hands on the classroom's walls. That evidently did not count the hobgoblin's repeated assaults which was obviously not eager to let the poor boy reach his goal. Angered and panicked, Yukio quickly yielded to the prohibition of using weapons inside the Academy's building and started shooting all around him.

A chance the goblin was agile and managed to dodge the deadly bullets filled with holy water without any difficulty. The mischievous creature seemed to have a very good time while teasing him from all sides, leaping on him, biting his legs, tearing his uniform into pieces. After a few minutes of demonic fun, Behemoth rushed out of the room, chuckling like an evil spirit straight out of a horror movie.

\- "Come back here, you demon!" Yukio shouted before rushing - or rather staggering - after him.

.

Fiore and Amaimon stayed still in the closet for a few more seconds, until the din caused by the demon and his pursuer vanished completely, leaving the duo in total silence.

A silence which the human suddenly broke by jumping out of the cabinet, incidentally leaving an unsightly drool on the demon's hand. Amaimon could not help his mocking laugh as he saw Fiore's whole face was now tainted in a vivid shade of red.

\- "If you dare making one single comment about this, I swear I will destroy you. This time, you could even bring me all the Garden of Eden's damn flowers, that would be of no help." She angrily hissed.

Red was definitely a main color, in the many tainted shades of Fiore.

Not eager to annoy her any more, the demon shrugged and glanced over to a nearby bookshelf, where the holy water had soaked the precious collection of scores.

The music room was in a pretty bad shape, to say the least. Many benches and instruments were on the ground, broken for most of them, the walls were riddled with bullets. Fiore was relieved, however, that the music score she had found just before Yukio's intrusion was not damaged. She picked it on the ground then turned over to face the King of Earth:

\- "Do you think he'll come back here?"

He nodded.

\- "He's looking for you, he will be back soon. We should leave this classroom." He said while looking at the pool of holy liquid with disgust.

\- "But... how about your lessons?"

He winced again, with a slight growl this time. It was out of the question to give up the privileged moments he shared with _his_ human. Especially not because of this stupid exorcist.

\- "We should visit my big brother, he'll know what to do. Anyway, he wanted to have a word with you."

This last sentence caught Fiore's attention. This was the perfect opportunity to get answers to the questions that bothered her. A question to which Tartini would not reply anymore, but to which Pheles could.

\- "Then, let's go." She said as she pulled the Infinity keys out of her pocket.

* * *

Silence reigned over Mephisto's office. The extravagant man was once more drowning under a mountain of paperwork which never seemed to end. How many times had he thought that a powerful demon king such as him should not be reduced to the simple status of a desk-man, and yet every evening he found himself in the same chair, peeling files and sorting documents.  
Too often had he yearned for entertainment, filling his work with one eye while hoping for a situation worthy of his interest to suddenly appear, offering him the excuse he expected to put away his work and responsibilities.  
For sure, he would love the visit he was about to receive...

The door slammed bruptally, revealing Amaimon in its frame. If at first sight the image was not exceptional, Mephisto quickly changed his mind when he saw the red-colored mane which timidly hid behind his younger brother.

\- "Ma che sorpresa, Miss Ravioli! Buonasera, cara mia~" (What a surprise, Miss ravioli! Good evening, my dear~) "Don't be shy, come in!"

Despite the unpleasant idea of being surrounded by two demon kings, Fiore complied.

Mephisto put his formalities aside and invited the girl to sit on the sofa near his desk, something she accepted without arguing. But as she was just about to settle there, Amaimon pushed her with one arm and laid down on the couch, sending the frail human flying to a ground that she would have probably seen very closely without Mephisto's intervention.

\- "Amaimon! Mind your manners!" The older demon scolded.

The green-haired boy looked at his sibling with a confused look, obviously not getting what he did wrong.

\- "What did I teach you? Do you think this is an acceptable way to treat women?" Asked the purple one.

Mephisto's eyes went back and forth between the sofa, Amaimon and Fiore, hoping for a glimse of understanding to come through his younger brother's mind. After a few seconds of total emptiness, the King of the Earth reacted, now wearing a surprised and impatient expression on his face.

\- "Oh, you mean, _that way_?" He happily turned to face a very confused Italian. "Fiore, lie down and spread your le..."

\- " **AMAIMON, SILENCE**!" The King of Time halted. "Not _that one_ , for Gehenna's sake!"

The office was momentarily plunged into a heavy and awkward silence.

\- "Ah... Pity."

\- "What do you mean? _Pity_?!" Growled the girl, once again tainted in red, before glancing to Mephisto. "Aren't you ashamed of teaching such things to your little brother?!"

\- "We, demons, sometimes share different perspectives about education, you know..." He mumbled with a smirk. "Please forget about this and sit down, we need to talk."

Amaimon finally agreed to share the couch with his human and both took place.

.

\- "I'd like to ask you a question Sir, if you don't mind?"

\- "Oh, sure, but we'll get back to your question later. See, I have something here that I've been longing to show you, dear miss Veracini."

The demon snapped his fingers and a brand-new violin case appeared on his desk. Fiore eyed him questioningly.

\- "I have heard of the incident in the forest that had resulted in your precious instrument being destroyed. He may look unconcerned, but the idiot sitting next to you blamed himself for it!" Mephisto said, pointing at his brother. "So I felt compelled to repair his mistake."

He delicately opened the case and Fiore's heart missed a beat at the sight of its content: her old violin, the instrument that had been the key to her success and which had accompanied her around the world was there, refurbished and shinier than ever. Happiness brought tears to the eyes of the musician, who delicately took her violin between her shaky hands.

The ebony surface was smooth and did not show any signs of previous breakage, it had also been polished and varnished. The strings had been replaced as well and, surprisingly, the Italian noticed that a small golden flower had been carved into the wood.

\- "Oh..."

\- "Courtesy of Amaimon." Mephisto said.

She turned, blushing at said demon who was pretending to look elsewhere. She wished he would say something or at least a look at her, but the demon was once again assaulted by this inexplicable flow of emotions that burned into his chest, letting him weak and unable to face the eyes of the girl.

\- "Sir Pheles, Amaimon, thank you. You have no idea how important this instrument is to me."

\- "Oh believe me, I know how much these little things can be filled with memories. Do not thank me." The purple haired man replied before glancing over at Amaimon.

\- "How about you, dear brother? May I know what brought you here in the first place?"

Relieved that his sibling finally switched to the important point, the youngest hastened to answer:

\- "That Okumura boy is getting on my nerves."

\- "Which one?"

\- "The one with a dumb face."

\- "Which one?"

\- "The exorcist."

\- "Oh."

\- "He's after Fiore and won't give her a rest. He has also soaked your music room with holy water."

Mephisto winced. Yukio was getting more and more invasive in his own business, a behavior which did not please the devil at all.

\- "Mmm... That may be a problem, indeed. You two will have to stay away from this classroom for a while."

\- "But, Sir", said Fiore. "Amaimon needs a piano for his lessons."

\- "In that case, may I suggest you to go back to the campus' forest? I'd personally make sure that the young teacher Okumura leaves you alone, plus, that seems like the perfect place to deepen your study about Earth demons which my brother has promised you in exchange for these music lessons..."

Eyes wide open, she glanced at Amaimon, who simply shrugged.

\- "You... knew about that?"

\- "Of course. Nothing escapes my attention, dear girl. I know everything."

She stayed silent and looked down. The King of Time and Space was definitely someone special.

\- "So, what do you think about my suggestion?" He said, drawing her out of her thoughts.

\- "Well... With all due respect, Sir Pheles... A violin is easy to carry around, but I'm afraid there is no piano in the forest."

He looked at the girl with a smirk, winked then snapped his fingers.

\- "Now there is."

Amaimon's face lit up at these words and the green-haired demon rushed to the nearest window without further question, not even bothering to thank his brother.

\- "Yeaaaaaaaaaah!" He yelled as he vanished in the evening's light, leaving Fiore and Mephisto alone and free to approach the matter that itched on both sides.

* * *

\- "Look at him! For once he looks thrilled by something else than food or violence... I can not thank you enough for what you do for my impetuous brother, Miss Veracini. Your teachings are beyond my expectations~" Said the demon, tilting the bust slightly as a sign of gratitude.

\- "Your brother is a real prodigy, I did not have much to do."

\- "Don't be so modest. I can't deny his talent really is something, but he would never have discovered it without you. To be honest, I would have expected nothing less..."

He leaned on his desk, his head resting between the palms of his hands and gave the girl a look that made her shudder.

\- "... from a descendant of Tartini." He concluded.

They watched each other silently for a few seconds. Then, against all odds, the girl burst into laughter.

\- "You're in the best position to find it out, aren't you, mister the demonic violinist?"

A softer, almost melancholic smile appeared on Mephisto's face. He then gently grabbed the instrument that Fiore had placed on the desk and studied its subtle reflections.

\- "Your bloodline seems predestined to awaken in us, demons, this irrational attraction for music. One single night under your ancestor's tutelage was also enough for me to master all facets of this instrument..."

He took the bow, set the violin under his chin and with the smoothest movements that the girl had ever seen in her lifetime, the demon performed to perfection a few seconds of the sonata that had filled his past.

Fiore couldn't believe her ears. _Devil's Trill Sonata._

\- "So that's true: Tartini, Faust, the Devil's Trill Sonata... You are the demon whom the books talk about!" She whispered, her eyes shining with emotion.

Mephisto closed his eyes and nodded with a smile.

\- "These are old memories that you're bringing back here, Miss Veracini. That one night, through simple music notes, I have understood many things about humans, you know. I owe my admiration for your kind to these special persons that were Faust, Tartini and many others."

\- "And by inviting me to study at True-Cross Academy, you were hoping I would have the same influence on Amaimon, am I right?"

He began to sneer. This little redhead already guessed it all.

"Let me tell you something, sweet little flower. You may not know it, but the world where us demons come from is, so to speak... divided. I guess you imagine Gehenna as a place of desolation, roamed by evil beings, thirsty for human blood... Well, that's only half true. Of course, there are bad demons whose only vocation is to fight mankind, but there is also a second category in total opposition with them. Those demons have chosen to coexist and ally with humans rather than fighting them. The most concrete example I can give you are the Tamers and the spirits they summon as their familiars to fight their own kind. Oh, there is also my own person: I have been loyal to the Vatican for hundreds of years and I am now director of an Academy of Exorcism."

\- "But what about Amaimon? From what I have read, is he rather one of those who hate humans?"

The demon carried a hand to his chest and gave to Fiore a deceptively hurt expression.

\- "You are blind from prejudices, dear girl. Amaimon is in a third category that I would call neutral. Until now, he considered humans as annoying creatures that he had to crush if they had the misfortune to cross his path, but did not hate them to the point of attacking them for no reason like some of my brothers would. However, neutrality is a delicate balance that any event can tip, for better or worse... And this is where you come in."

\- "If I get it right, you used me to make your brother join your side, and this, without asking my opinion?"

\- "Then I'll ask for your opinion right now, dear girl: which Amaimon do you prefer? The one who plays music and brings you flowers, or the one whom your textbooks describe as a bloodthirsty monster?"

.

She wanted to say something. She wanted to scream.

But nothing came out of her mouth. Pheles was right, and she knew it.

So the violinist sighed.

Why was she among so many others chosen to reconcile the King of the Earth with mankind? Why would Pheles have taken the risk of seeing her destroy the fragile trust that Amaimon gave to her kind?

Fiore was lost and afraid. Afraid of failing in the mission that had been entrusted to her without she even knew it, afraid to destroy everything she had built with Amaimon since their encounter in the forest.

Amaimon was an impatient, violent, and rude demon, a real nightmare for exorcists. But by getting to know him, Fiore had discovered a whole new person, a spirit who listened and reigned rightly over his elements and its subjects. The King of Earth could grow flowers and today, for her, he could grow music too. Fiore would not lose it for anything in the world.

This is why the girl was afraid. Afraid to lose Amaimon.

.

\- "Why me? Why did you take this risk based on my sole ancestry?" She asked softly.

\- "Your family has long been linked to demons, Miss Veracini. In addition, Amaimon is not good with words. I knew that you were the one when you told me you didn't need words to talk to monsters." He said with a warm smile.

Of course, she remembered that moment, the very first day of her arrival in this very same office. Pheles' pleased smile after she had said this sentence, all the things that lead her to the forest, her first encounter with Amaimon under the moonlight...

Everything was suddenly filled with sense.

She smiled. She had been called here to repeat History by the very same demon who changed the fate of her ancestor three hundred years ago.

\- "Oh, now that I think about it, you wanted to ask me a question?" Asked the King of Time, seeing that the Italian was lost in her mind.

\- "I wanted to know how did your story with Tartini end but... All things considered, I don't want to know. If I must repeat History, then I want to write the end that suits me best."

Mephisto laid against the edge of his seat and gratified her with a toothy smile. This little human was decidedly special.

\- "Now if you will excuse me, Sir, your brother must wait for me for his lesson." She said while leaving the couch.

\- "What will you use to torture him, tonight? An étude from Chopin? Or some Debussy tunes, perhaps?"

\- "None of that. It's something as weird as you, if I can say so."

\- "Aaah?~ Will you tell me?"

She only shook her head as a response then walked to the door, holding her precious instrument against her chest. She turned one last time to Mephisto and said with a faint smile:

\- "You will know it soon enough."

* * *

That night, an old melody emerged from the darkness of the forest.

A piano tune, sometimes jolly, sometimes dark and mysterious, had gathered within its rhythm all the lurking spirits of Gehenna from miles around.

The music sang the joy, the intoxication of a party and the sweetness of a waltz in the woods, but the pianist, however, did not seem in such a mood. His fingers struggled to land in time on the monochrome keys and the poor left hand which failed him so often was lagging behind. Deprived of its sense and meaning, the tune was gradually fading away.

But did you know that on a piano, the left hand represents the musical harmony?

And sometimes, one only need a helping hand in order to reach it.

While the lone pianist was about to give up, the sound of a violin arose.

The violinist sat on top of the grand piano and let her emotions flow all around her.

The girl under the moonlight was back, more beautiful than ever and the pianist, now relieved, followed her in this demented tune.

It was a difficult, technical, literally twisted piece that would surely cause cramps to their hands for next few days to come. But given the scene they displayed, wasn't it worth the pain?

For the first time, Fiore and Amaimon were playing together.

And the demon finally allowed himself to smile.

* * *

Hidden in the shadows of the trees, Mephisto observed with interest this improbable duet. A prince of Hell and a young woman, wordlessly singing in harmony, simply using music as a language of their own.

Melancholic, the demon couldn't retain a smile. Lost in his thoughts, he let the tune bring back old memories and resurrect the ghosts of his past. He knew each note by heart, he, who had composed this waltz.

 _The_ _Mephisto-Waltz._

\- "You are absolutely right, Miss Veracini. Do not just repeat History: write your own lines and make it even more beautiful."

* * *

.

WOW! That was a very special chapter, but also **so** long and difficult to write! My lack of vocabulary was quite annoying for this part of the story filled with revelations and old memories. But anyway, I hope you enjoyed it!

Also, I read every single message and review and wanted to thank you all the kind words! The favs, follows, reviews and private messages really warm my heart and make me want to improve my English just for you! ^^ If there are French speakers among you (and I know there is at least one, thanks to a certain review :D) I just wanted to let you know that this story is being translated in French on Wattpad! The title is "La Sonate de la Terre" and is published by the talentuous Chirp-It who also draws some occasional illustrations for the story (hence the new cover which you probably noticed! I'm so obsessed with her art!) / Pour les francophones, une version française de l'histoire est disponible sur Wattpad sous le titre "La Sonate de la Terre!"

One last thing. Some of you asked for an English version of my other Blue Exorcist fanfiction: Redemption. That, for sure, would be a very hard one to translate, but at least, I'll try. Any help would be greatly appreciated, though! ^^

See you soon for the chapter 6: Rhythm !


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